mRNA and the Covid-19 vaccines

mRNA has become the key component in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as all of its features make it a great choice for vaccine development.

Context

mRNA has become the key component in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as all of its features make it a great choice for vaccine development.

About mRNA

• Basic Structure: The RNA is similar in structure to the DNA but it has some basic differences.
• RNA is a single strand while DNA is double-stranded.
• The RNA code contains a U nucleotide instead of a T, which is Uracil instead of thymine.
• Its backbone is made of sugar and phosphate molecules, but RNA has sugar ribose instead of deoxyribose.
• DNA’s sugar contains one less oxygen atom, that’s why it is known as deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA is ribonucleic acid.
• Function: RNA is produced according to the dynamic cellular environment and the immediate needs of the body.
• mRNA helps in fire up the cellular machinery to build the proteins, as encoded by the DNA.
• Sections of the DNA code are transcribed into messages that are instructions for making proteins.
• These messages come in the form of mRNA and are transported out to the main part of the cell.

How it controls the cell environment?

• Safety mechanism: It prevents invaders to take over the cellular machinery to produce foreign proteins. As, any RNA which comes from outside of the cell is instantaneously targeted for destruction by enzymes called RNases.
• Controller: The mRNA gives the cell a way to control the rate of protein production by switching off the mRNA translation into proteins.
• The presence of U in the code, its single-stranded shape, the ribose sugar and its specific sequence – ensure that the mRNA has a short half-life.
• Once the instructions vanish, protein production stops till the next message of protein production.

How it is used for vaccination?

• The vaccine provides enough mRNA to make enough of the spike protein for a person’s immune system to generate antibodies which protect individuals on exposure to the virus.
• The mRNA in the vaccine is soon destroyed by the cell.
• The mRNA of vaccine cannot get into the cell nucleus and do not affect a person’s DNA.