The Warsaw High School Times

By Yuye Gao

Note: this article does not constitute medical advice, and serves merely as an exploration of a scientific concept. This article does not seek to promote any specific medication.

Every organism that exists on Earth operates through coded instructions. The biological script of DNA functions as the life instruction manual, which contains the genetic code [3]. And your DNA determines everything, from your eye color to cell repair mechanisms. However, the actual construction work happens through RNA messengers, which perform the instructions [4]. It functions as a temporary genetic instruction duplicate that contains a particular section of DNA information, sort of like a DNA sticky note that can deliver instructions for protein construction along with construction details; the note is no longer needed after it finishes its job. Life has depended on this cycle of writing, copying, and building for billions of years, and it will continue to work by using this amazing process.

Vaccines have long been one of humanity’s best defenses against disease [5]. The method from the 1700s remains unchanged; scientists continue to introduce weakened or inactive viruses to teach the body about future defenses. This method managed to fight back diseases such as smallpox, polio, and measles, but progress was slow. Scientists needed to spend multiple years developing traditional vaccines because they needed to cultivate viruses. Moreover, purification and testing required extended time [5].

Then came COVID-19, and the world didn’t have years. Scientists, short on time, explored a new approach. Instead of injecting the viruses directly, they delivered an instruction to the body that asked it to create harmless virus components. Therefore, entire virus particles were not used, and it is less time-consuming. The mRNA vaccine technology functions through mRNA delivery [6]. The mRNA contains instructions which direct cells to produce the COVID-19 spike protein that enables viral cell entry [6]. Your body learns defense mechanisms through this process without developing any illness symptoms. The new vaccine development method brought significant advancements to scientific research; scientists can create mRNA vaccines through genetic code analysis, which reduces development time from years to weeks [7].

The development of the mRNA revolution started about thirty years before 2020 [1]. Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman worked at the University of Pennsylvania during the 1990s as core members of the mRNA revolution. The Hungarian-born biochemist Dr. Katalin Karikó dedicated herself to studying RNA because most scientists viewed it as an unstable molecule [2]. The scientific community repeatedly denied her funding requests, and she received a demotion after she refused to abandon her research. She encountered Weissman, who worked as an immunologist to study viral reactions in the human body. The researchers achieved a breakthrough by modifying RNA’s chemical structure to create a stable compound which the immune system could not detect [1][2]. This change turned RNA from a difficult scientific problem into a new medical possibility. For many years, their work did not receive much attention. They continued to publish papers and apply for patents while quietly continuing their experiments [2]. Finally, in 2020, when the genetic sequence of the coronavirus became available, scientists at Moderna and BioNTech immediately understood how to create mRNA vaccines [1]. The scientific breakthroughs of Karikó and Weissman enabled scientists to develop and test mRNA vaccines during the first months after the pandemic started. The vaccines developed during 2021 saved millions of people from death [1].

The COVID-19 vaccine program demonstrated mRNA technology’s effectiveness for multiple medical applications [8]. Scientists can modify mRNA vaccines using a delivery system called lipid nanoparticles [9]. This delivery system functions as a software update mechanism which enables researchers to input new disease-specific codes. Beyond infectious diseases, mRNA is used to train the immune system for personalized cancer vaccines and to produce healthy proteins for genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis [8]. Researchers also see potential for heart tissue repair and organ regeneration [8]. The fast development process of mRNA vaccines can help stop future outbreaks and address other medical challenges [9].

The main obstacle for mRNA breakthroughs is its fragile nature [9]. The molecule is very delicate and sensitive, so it requires extremely cold temperatures for storage, which made worldwide distribution difficult [9]. Now, scientists work to develop mRNA versions which will maintain stability at room temperatures, hence enhancing healthcare access in less developed countries [9]. Another challenge is delivery. mRNA cannot enter cells by itself, so it uses the lipid nanoparticles mentioned before. It is intricate to create the right balance in the system where the particles are both strong enough to protect the mRNA but gentle enough to enter the cell without causing damage. Improving this delivery method remains one of the most important and difficult goals for scientists [9]. Public trust is also an issue. Many people thought the vaccines came too fast, not realizing that mRNA technology was based on thirty years of work [1][2]. Scientists continue to explain that “new” does not mean untested, but rather well-prepared [2].

Medical science has achieved a major breakthrough with mRNA, marking a fundamental change in how diseases are treated. This technology allows the human body to protect and repair itself, moving beyond traditional methods that only manage illness. The four letters A, U, G, and C, the so-called “language of life,” have now become medical tools for creating new treatments and developing innovative cures.

Bibliography

1. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 – Press Release. NobelPrize.org. (2023). https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/
2. How Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó Developed mRNA Technology Inside COVID Vaccines. Boston University. (2021). https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/how-drew-weissman-and-katalin-kariko-developed-mrna-technology-inside-covid-vaccines/
3. The Human Genome Project and Beyond. National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.genome.gov/
4. The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. Nature Education. https://www.nature.com/scitable/
5. History of Vaccines and Immunization. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
6. How mRNA Vaccines Trigger Immune Response. Mayo Clinic. (2021). https://www.mayoclinic.org/
7. mRNA Vaccines — A New Era in Vaccinology. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. (2021). https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2021.73
8. The Next Chapter of mRNA Medicine. Scientific American. (2023). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-next-chapter-of-mrna-medicine/
9. Lipid Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery. Nature Materials. (2021). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-021-00946-8