{"id":3229,"date":"2022-04-26T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/singularityumexicosummit.com\/?p=3229"},"modified":"2022-04-26T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T15:00:00","slug":"moderna-will-develop-mrna-vaccines-for-15-of-the-worlds-worst-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/en\/moderna-will-develop-mrna-vaccines-for-15-of-the-worlds-worst-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Moderna Will Develop mRNA Vaccines for 15 of the World\u2019s Worst Diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"

To much of the world, it seemed like the Covid-19 vaccines were whipped up in less than a year\u2014an amazing feat of science and biotechnology<\/a> if ever there was one. While the vaccines did get fast-tracked through clinical trial and regulatory approval phases, the truth is that the technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines\u2014mRNA\u2014had been in the works for decades<\/a>. Now Moderna is leveraging that same technology to fight several other viruses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week Moderna announced plans<\/a> to develop vaccines against 15 different pathogens that either have the potential to cause a pandemic or are an ongoing thorn in humanity\u2019s side. Among them are chikungunya, dengue, ebola, malaria, and Covid\u2019s predecessor, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional vaccines use a weakened piece of a virus to expose our bodies to it so they can get some practice launching a counter-attack before being fully exposed. mRNA vaccines work<\/a> by training our cells to create proteins to fight viruses. DNA makes mRNA, which acts as a \u201cmessenger\u201d by instructing our cells to make proteins (and those proteins in turn control pretty much everything that happens in our cells).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cworkshop\u201d where the proteins get made is the cell\u2019s ribosome. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania were able to create mRNA<\/a> that could get past cells\u2019 defenses without triggering an immune response, but still be recognized by the ribosome. In the case of the Covid vaccines, the modified RNA was programmed to get the ribosome to make the virus\u2019s telltale spike protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immune system tags this protein as an invader and launches a response, producing antibodies to fight what seems like an infection. When a vaccinated person comes into contact with the real virus, his or her cells know how to fight it before it takes over the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mRNA, then, is essentially a delivery vehicle, a Trojan horse that can be made to smuggle in instructions to make any protein of scientists\u2019 choosing. They identify a vaccine target by sequencing a virus\u2019s genome\u2014the low cost and fast turnaround of genome sequencing<\/a> is another key part to this technology\u2014then encode mRNA<\/a> for the relevant protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Drew Weissman<\/a>, one of the physician-scientists who helped develop mRNA vaccine technology put it<\/a>, \u201cmRNA vaccines are essentially plug and play. We believe you can change the part of the mRNA that encodes a protein, plugging in new code specific to the virus we hope to protect against, and cause one\u2019s body to produce proteins that match that virus\u2019 proteins. We do not have to develop and manufacture an entirely new formula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, mRNA is easy to scale in production at a relatively low cost, making it easier and more cost-effective to screen multiple vaccine candidates quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating 15 new vaccines, then, may not be as much work as it sounds like (though getting them through clinical trials and ultimately bringing them to market probably still will be). The company plans to prioritize<\/a> work on viruses classified as \u201cpersistent global health threats,\u201d including HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, and aims to have vaccines for all 15 pathogens in clinical trials by 2025 (its HIV vaccine<\/a> already started human trials last year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other significant pieces of news were included in Moderna\u2019s release this week. First, the company said it would permanently wave its Covid-19 vaccine patents in low- and middle-income countries, sticking to a pledge made early in the pandemic. This means labs in these countries can use the company\u2019s technology to produce local versions of a Covid vaccine. 92 countries are included, all of them part of the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moderna also said it plans to build a $500 million facility for manufacturing mRNA vaccines\u00a0in Kenya<\/a>, and will supply up to 500 million doses a year of mRNA vaccines to the African continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

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Author:<\/strong>
Vanessa is senior editor of Singularity Hub. She’s interested in biotechnology and genetic engineering, the nitty-gritty of the renewable energy transition, the roles technology and science play in geopolitics and international development, and countless other topics. Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Article<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To much of the world, it seemed like the Covid-19 vaccines were whipped up in less than a year\u2014an amazing feat of science and biotechnology if ever there was one. While the vaccines did get fast-tracked through clinical trial and regulatory approval phases, the truth is that the technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines\u2014mRNA\u2014had been in […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28,116,77,117,118],"series":[],"class_list":["post-3229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articulos-ingles","tag-biotechnology","tag-covax","tag-future-of-health","tag-mrna","tag-vaccines"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mrna-vaccine-pathogens-viruses-Moderna-cells.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/11711533-1673157178559-89a95be153719-4-scaled.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/the-feedback-loop-by-singularity","embedCode":"

Moderna Will Develop mRNA Vaccines for 15 of the World\u2019s Worst Diseases<\/a><\/blockquote>