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Ok, while Linus so righteously describes the basic molecular biology of RNA, here are some of the less insane questions that he doesn't address: 1) After an in

Ok, while Linus so righteously describes the basic molecular biology of RNA, here are some of the less insane questions that he doesn't address: 1) After an injection of mRNA (inside of lipid nanoparticles, if I understand correctly) into the body, which cells will the mRNA enter? 2) The mRNA will cause the synthesis of the spike protein that will be displayed on the surface of these cells and initiate the immune response. Since the cells expressing the spike protein will be treated as infected by the immune system, will it result in the death of these cells? If so – and depending on the answer to the previous question — is this cell death dangerous at all? 3) Following question 2, what are the chances of the development of an autoimmune response? 4) Why do some vaccine recipients seem to develop thrombotic events? 5) Is there a reason to believe that the spike protein itself has cytotoxic properties? If so, is there a reason to believe that the spike protein expressed by the cells transfected with the mRNA can get detached from their membranes and enter the bloodstream? If yes, is there any danger to that? Edit: I've phrased these questions in the most neutral language of a basic medical immunology textbook, yet, judging by the instant downvotes, I managed to upset someone. I'm not siding with the author of the email to the Linux kernel discussion list; I am merely wondering how much precisely is known about the mechanism of action of mRNA vaccines beyond the basic overview that Linus outlined.

adamrezich 5y ago
at some point you just have to embrace the fact that you're going to get downvoted for writing things like this, and all you can do is trust that a nonzero number of people will see the downvotes-without-replies and that that will give them pause to think
DoreenMichele 5y ago
People have been downvote-happy since, roughly, the beginning of the pandemic. And I saw multiple reddits gain a lot of new members during lock down. I haven't seen numbers for HN, but I assume there has been an influx of new people here as well because, wow, is the Eternal September especially bad of late. You are probably asking questions to which we don't have answers. Someone with medical credentials once told me "You are asking questions they don't have answers for. That's not how medical studies work." and I think people get cranky any time you ask questions the studies aren't designed to answer. For many people, it likely smacks of "You are just being a smartass." and "How dare you make the authorities look dumb!" or something like that. 4) Why do some vaccine recipients seem to develop thrombotic events? My assumption would be that this is related to the fact that the infection itself seems to cause blood clots and my general impression is that what it does to the blood system is a significant issue and a large part of why it is deadly. I am not a medical professional. I'm just a random internet stranger who reads and is making conversation on the internet.
- azangru 5y ago
  > You are probably asking questions to which we don't have answers. I've been pleasantly surprised by the qualifications of people who post on Hacker News. Who knows; perhaps there's a stray immunologist among the visitors. What depresses me quite a bit is that discussions in public forums regarding vaccines never seem to move past a high-school science lesson in physiology and cell biology. Which tends to leave people with a rather superficial understanding of what a vaccine does, yet with a high degree of confidence in that they understand how it works.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
kaba0 5y ago
I can’t answer all your questions, but for the 5th: the spike protein is most definitely cytotoxic and my guess is that they are not at all attached to the membrane (as nor is covid particles remain attached), effectively solving 1 and 2 of your questions. As for the cytotoxicity, they are made in a locally high but overall very low level compared to even a mild Covid case, so the effects of that should be less than what covid would have been. About 4 I read that basically every foreign protein in the blood stream can potentially start platelet aggregation, so there is that.

adamrezich 5y ago

at some point you just have to embrace the fact that you're going to get downvoted for writing things like this, and all you can do is trust that a nonzero number of people will see the downvotes-without-replies and that that will give them pause to think

DoreenMichele 5y ago

People have been downvote-happy since, roughly, the beginning of the pandemic. And I saw multiple reddits gain a lot of new members during lock down. I haven't seen numbers for HN, but I assume there has been an influx of new people here as well because, wow, is the Eternal September especially bad of late. You are probably asking questions to which we don't have answers. Someone with medical credentials once told me "You are asking questions they don't have answers for. That's not how medical studies work." and I think people get cranky any time you ask questions the studies aren't designed to answer. For many people, it likely smacks of "You are just being a smartass." and "How dare you make the authorities look dumb!" or something like that. 4) Why do some vaccine recipients seem to develop thrombotic events? My assumption would be that this is related to the fact that the infection itself seems to cause blood clots and my general impression is that what it does to the blood system is a significant issue and a large part of why it is deadly. I am not a medical professional. I'm just a random internet stranger who reads and is making conversation on the internet.

azangru 5y ago
> You are probably asking questions to which we don't have answers. I've been pleasantly surprised by the qualifications of people who post on Hacker News. Who knows; perhaps there's a stray immunologist among the visitors. What depresses me quite a bit is that discussions in public forums regarding vaccines never seem to move past a high-school science lesson in physiology and cell biology. Which tends to leave people with a rather superficial understanding of what a vaccine does, yet with a high degree of confidence in that they understand how it works.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

kaba0 5y ago

I can’t answer all your questions, but for the 5th: the spike protein is most definitely cytotoxic and my guess is that they are not at all attached to the membrane (as nor is covid particles remain attached), effectively solving 1 and 2 of your questions. As for the cytotoxicity, they are made in a locally high but overall very low level compared to even a mild Covid case, so the effects of that should be less than what covid would have been. About 4 I read that basically every foreign protein in the blood stream can potentially start platelet aggregation, so there is that.