Messenger RNA vaccines

AFP English

Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that paved the way for groundbreaking Covid-19 vaccines. Videographic showing how the mRNA vaccine works.  VIDEOGRAPHIC

Transcript

00:00 Messenger ribonucleic acid or mRNA is a molecule that carries genetic code from DNA to a cell's

00:07 protein making machinery. Traditional vaccines contain small amounts of weakened virus or

00:19 inactivated forms of germs that carry a disease. They train the body to recognize certain proteins

00:24 called antigens made by the virus or bacteria. This training primes the immune system to

00:30 respond when it encounters the real thing. By contrast, messenger RNA vaccines deliver

00:36 genetic instructions to build these antigens directly into cells. The human body itself

00:41 is effectively turned into a vaccine making factory. The messenger RNA of the vaccine

00:47 against SARS-CoV-2 is manufactured in a laboratory. It's introduced into the cell to make it

00:52 manufacture the antigens specific to the coronavirus, the spike proteins that cover the surface

00:58 and give it its crown-like appearance. The immune system sees these spike proteins and

01:04 develops infection-fighting antibodies against it without ever exposing it to the actual

01:10 virus. Messenger RNA vaccines are thought to be safer than traditional vaccines since

01:15 there's no chance that the spike protein in isolation can cause someone to get the disease.

01:21 Another advantage is speed. With mRNA vaccines, only the sequence of the antigen is required

01:26 and this can take just a few weeks. Messenger RNA vaccines also provide the production of

01:32 immune cells, an additional defense mechanism on top of antibodies.

01:36 (music)

01:38 (silence)

01:40 (silence)

01:42 (silence)

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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