A lot of people are still reluctant to get vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines despite the fact that millions of people all over the world have already got theirs.
There are various common reasons for such a reluctance and among them are some myths, including the one that's most popularly circulating mistruth today. That, according to a Forbes report, is that mRNA vaccines will alter an individual's DNA "with pseudoscientific content."
But according to the news site, the good news is that mRNA vaccines simply cannot do this, which, for some who hope for this as a "chance for superpowers," will occur as a disappointment.
According to the National Society of Genetic Counselors president, Sara Riordan, she thinks, people are worried because "this is genetic material injected into the body," could it one way or another, mix in with one's own genetic material and alter it.
Difference Between DNA and mRNA
There are essential differences between DNA carrying all information an individual inherits from his parents and mRNA, which vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer/BionTech are made of.
DNA is described as double-stranded. It is very, very long and tightly tied up together inside a cell part identified as the nucleus, although then released into the cell's main part so that the instructions it's carrying can be "read" and transformed into the proteins which the cell needs.
mRNA, on the other hand, is naturally made by the body, encoding instructions for the cells of the human body to make protein.
Any mRNA vaccine works for a similar purpose, and that's to teach and train the body to produce an immune response toward a specific pathogen. Thus, if the latter enters the body, the immune system can attack it, explained Riordan.
In the mRNA vaccines' case against COVID-19, the expert said, "these are not made in the nucleus. Instead, they are injected into the arm" to instruct muscle cells how to make "part of the viral 'Spike' or 'S' protein," a small part of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which on its one, has none of the virus's negative impacts itself.
What one can be sure of about the mRNA vaccines is that the mRNA does not even go into the nucleus; the part of the cell comprises all of one's own DNA and instructions, Riordan explained further.
DNA Altered by Some Viruses
According to the said report, some viruses indeed alter DNA, and this can have extremely adverse effects. It is essential to say initially of all that DNA-changing viruses do not include coronaviruses, although they do not include diseases such as HPV and HIV.
The way that these viruses function is by sticking themselves into a cell's DNA randomly, hijacking the replication machinery of the cell to duplicate more copies of themselves.
Since they are frequently indiscriminate as to where in the genome they put themselves, if they end up the central part of a piece of code that is critical for the cell, they can lead the cell to turn into a cancerous type.
HPV can lead to various types of cancer, which include cervical, and head and neck, which is the reason people are now frequently vaccinated as their protection from HPV.
Now, researchers have been excited about mRNA vaccines for years, with one of the key benefits being able to alter the instructions to tackle new aims merely.
Today, Moderna announced it had set its visions on seasonal flu and HIV, to name a few. If vaccine-resistant versions of SARS-Cov-2 should occur, scientists are confident they can instantly alter the instructions to the vaccine to adjust as needed.
For the present, though, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are said to be "neither viruses, nor gene treatment," the expert said, and they will not alter the DNA.
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