MRNA Technology: What this means for the history of medicine
Discovered in the 1960s by François Jacob and Jacques, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is an essential molecule that contains instructions that direct cells to make necessary proteins. In the present day, scientists have come to understand the potential of mRNA and have even been making advancements in mRNA technology to treat and prevent a wide range of diseases (Pfizer). From vaccines to therapeutics, mRNA technology plays a crucial role in the medical and biotechnology field. Unlike conventional vaccines, mRNA vaccines work on the cellular level to rewire instructions to make new proteins for the body that are specific to the disease. This type of technology has been especially important in recent years as a catalyst in the development of COVID-19, and cancer vaccines.
Pancreatic cancer is the most common, and one of the most deadliest types of cancer. To treat this form of cancer, advancements in the biotech industry allow for new mRNA technology to be personalized and catered to the treatment of each patient. This new vaccine— researched by Dr. Vinod Balachandran and his team— is designed to help immune cells within the body recognize neoantigens in cancerous pancreatic cells. In a clinical trial, this groundbreaking vaccine proved to be extremely beneficial and worked well with chemotherapy to prevent cancer from returning in all of the patients whose cells responded to the vaccine (National Institutes of Health).
Just a few years ago when COVID-19 was at its peak, the research of Penn Medicine contributed heavily to the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine supplied by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Traditional vaccines that use a weak or dead version of a virus to stimulate a response from the immune system can take up a lot of time and money. However, in mRNA based vaccines that code proteins for the body to fight the disease, the process is shortened in a timely and costly manner (Penn Medicine). Penn State's previous research on the everso developing influenza vaccine that was already in clinical trials, aided and sped up the process of creating a COVID-19 vaccine.
Although mRNA advancements in the medical field are still in their early years of development, there is no doubt that the future of medicine and biotechnology lies in revolutionary advancements in mRNA. Continuous mRNA research has already laid the foundation for disease treatment, and as research and development in this field progresses, we can expect a rise in innovations and improvements in medicine to treat and enhance modern health issues.
By Bianca Shen