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11 questions · 4 almanac · 0 findings

mRNA Vaccines

Vaccines that use messenger RNA to trigger immunity.

Connects to Vaccines and Immunization4 Immunology2 RNA Biology2 DNA Structure and Discovery1 History of Science and Scientists1 Molecular Biology1 Pandemics and Epidemic Response1
Almanac The Ladder That Copies Itself
  • What modern technologies, from forensic databases to mRNA vaccines, trace their origin back to the double-helix model?
Almanac Eleven Months From Sequence to Syringe
  • What earlier research made the mRNA vaccine platform ready to deploy quickly once COVID-19 emerged?
  • How quickly did BioNTech and Moderna begin designing vaccine candidates after the viral sequence was published?
  • How long did it take from the virus being sequenced to the first vaccines receiving emergency authorisation?
Almanac One Nucleoside Swap, Two Billion Doses
  • Why does the body's immune system normally destroy synthetic mRNA before it can work?
  • What modification did Karikó and Weissman make in 2005 to make mRNA usable as medicine?
  • How did this single discovery enable the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines?
Almanac A Small Chemical Nudge, Decades Late
  • Why did the immune system destroy synthetic mRNA before Karikó and Weissman's discovery?
  • What was the effect of substituting pseudouridine for uridine in synthetic mRNA?
  • How long did it take from Karikó and Weissman's 2005 paper to its use in the COVID-19 vaccines?
  • What career setbacks did Katalin Karikó face while pursuing mRNA research at the University of Pennsylvania?