Submitted by Ezekiel_W t3_yinwz9 in Futurology
Comments
walrusone79 t1_iuk84rd wrote
I'm not an expert in this in any way, but my understanding was that with mRNA vaccines they can better target general antigens that offer immune responses against a wider range of drift in various strains. It also can be produced quicker, which gives the virus less time to mutate before release.
willeybrown t1_iuk5ho8 wrote
Pfizer announced phase 3 of their clinical trials using their mRNA influenza vaccine almost 2 months ago. That inverse.com article looks like pre-release media hype.
Ezekiel_W OP t1_iujkdcp wrote
>For their influenza vaccine, the researchers created an mRNA cocktail encoding the four influenza proteins neuraminidase, nucleoprotein, matrix protein 2, and the stalk portion of hemagglutinin
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>The vaccine was then injected into a group of twenty or so naive mice who had never experienced influenza before. They either got a quadrivalent jab (meaning all four mRNA segments for each protein was present) or monovalent (the conventional flu vaccine or vaccines containing an individual mRNA for any one of the proteins). Some animals received one shot, while others lucked out with one shot plus a booster four weeks later. The mice were then challenged with an assortment of different influenza strains, both that infect humans and other animals like dogs.
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>“When we mix all of them together, we get the broadest immune response,” he says. “You get the engagement of T cells against the nucleoprotein, you get antibodies, and we get a pretty strong neuraminidase response. That’s kind of the beauty here that you’re flexible in what types of [viral proteins] you use… and you have a lot of possibilities to try [out].”
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>The researchers also expect it wouldn’t need to undergo annual updates as our current ones do. Instead, they might last for a few years.
[deleted] t1_iujl3b3 wrote
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FuturologyBot t1_iujpig4 wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Ezekiel_W:
>For their influenza vaccine, the researchers created an mRNA cocktail encoding the four influenza proteins neuraminidase, nucleoprotein, matrix protein 2, and the stalk portion of hemagglutinin
>
>The vaccine was then injected into a group of twenty or so naive mice who had never experienced influenza before. They either got a quadrivalent jab (meaning all four mRNA segments for each protein was present) or monovalent (the conventional flu vaccine or vaccines containing an individual mRNA for any one of the proteins). Some animals received one shot, while others lucked out with one shot plus a booster four weeks later. The mice were then challenged with an assortment of different influenza strains, both that infect humans and other animals like dogs.
>
>“When we mix all of them together, we get the broadest immune response,” he says. “You get the engagement of T cells against the nucleoprotein, you get antibodies, and we get a pretty strong neuraminidase response. That’s kind of the beauty here that you’re flexible in what types of [viral proteins] you use… and you have a lot of possibilities to try [out].”
>
>The researchers also expect it wouldn’t need to undergo annual updates as our current ones do. Instead, they might last for a few years.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yinwz9/scientists_use_mrna_technology_to_create_a_potent/iujkdcp/
[deleted] t1_iuk1itp wrote
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[deleted] t1_iuk1zxa wrote
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Exact_Monk t1_iujx2yg wrote
Bro the mRNA COVID vaccine doesn’t last 3 months, think I’m gonna trust the same shit applied to a virus that changes so drastically every year that all new shots are required each year?
fixminer t1_iuk24qt wrote
I think we shouldn't extrapolate the general performance of MRNA vaccines from the COVID ones. It's the first time they have been widely used and the other vaccine technologies don't really offer any more long term protection, so it might have more to do with COVID than the technology.
It's fair to be skeptical considering that influenza does indeed also change frequently, but as always, research is needed and will show whether these claims hold up.
Exact_Monk t1_iuk3w6x wrote
Yeah I agree we shouldn’t extrapolate that they’re dangerous but we also shouldn’t extrapolate that they are safe until, like you said, more research has been done.
walrusone79 t1_iuk8ldr wrote
Extrapolate that what is safe? That's the point of the various phases and trials: to show that it is safe and effective.
SamsterOverdrive t1_iujz3e3 wrote
So I’m also confused as the current Covid mRNA vaccines don’t even last a year. The highest recommended flu vaccines they give only protect against 3-4 sub-strains. The strains picked are also chosen by predicting what will be the most prevalent and leads to widely different effectiveness rates year to year (usually around 40-60%). So I guess they are hoping if we use mRNA it might be general enough to prevent substantially more mutated strains. The article seems promising from what I read but I think “could last for years” is a hypothetical best-case scenario when it will need to be tweaked and administered annually.