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
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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.
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