How safe is mRNA vaccine?
lim ju boo
Post-doctoral CE Evolution (Cambridge)
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Viruses go through evolution by natural selection similar to all
life forms. However viruses are able to mutate much faster and hence capable of
evolving into much more strains and variants at unprecedented speeds compared
to more complex organisms such as bacteria.
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There is likelihood that other viruses may also infect a cell
simultaneously. When that happens they may switch genetic material to construct
new type of viruses with distinctive behavior.
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Mixed new strains and variants of SARS-CoV2 virus may arise
through multiple mutations, and introduced into the body via compounded
infections
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In mixed infections they give rise to different clinical presentations and
complications
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It is well-known that RNA viruses have very rapid mutation rates
that allow it for fast evolution into numerous strains and variants. This may
cause resistance to drug or vaccines due to changes in their genomic profiles
and behavior.
Through exchanges in their gene pool from mixed virus population
it can rapidly evolve over time through natural selection into highly infectivity
One reason why virus such as SARS-CoV2 is able to mutate into
various variants very rapidly is because of the simplicity and shorter RNA
chains of about 30 kilobits.
By random mutations of changing their RNA sequence or codes new
strains and new behavior of the subsequent variants arises
Origin of Viruses:
There are many theories forwarded on the origin of viruses,
probably including the corona group of viruses such as one given here;
We shall look at this theory in another way later
However the
origin of the corona virus that causes the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are two
highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses.
It is believed
to have surfaced in humans at the beginning of the 21st century, and they are
highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses
Many theories
and conspiracies have emerged on the origin of the SARS-CoV2 group, among them were thought to be from bats, pangolins, civet
cats and even politically suspected to be artificially created by the Chinese
in Wuhan, China
But then the genetically
diversity or even similarity of the corona viruses related to SARS-CoV and
MERS-CoV discovered in bats worldwide did not suggest this group of viruses
were artificially created, or have
recently evolved.
Our current understanding
on the origin and evolution of these two pathogenic corona viruses is that it may
be a spillover from bat-borne coronaviruses, or from swine acute diarrhoea
syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) to pigs.
But going back
to the theory on the origin of all viruses, it may have been the result of
untold numbers of mutations from the first chemistry of RNA which may have taken
place 3,800 million years ago by random combination of nitrogen
compounds and nucleotide floating in the warm primordial oceans after Earth was
created.
See list of Evolution of Life on Earth here:
https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/
Please also refer to Ir. Lau
TO blog on the myriads of ways the Covid-19 virus could change their genetic combinations
here:
It is claimed that this novel
vaccine is made from Messenger RNA (mRNA). What does
that mean?
mRNA from
SARS-CoV2 is a molecular fragment of the
virus that carries the codes for protein synthesis. For
instance, the message from mRNA is for the formation of their spike proteins
mRNA was first described in 1956 by Elliot
Volkin and Lazarus Astrachan. In addition to mRNA, there are two other major
types of RNA: ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer
RNA (tRNA) that may be present in other cells, but we shall not go into
them.
According to Biontech this is how mRNA is made
and how the vaccine works.
First, briefly explained, mRNA is synthesized by using the nucleotide sequence of DNA or RNA as
a template. This procedure requires nucleotide triphosphates as substrates and
is catalyzed by the enzyme RNA polymerase II. The process of making mRNA from DNA or RNA is called
transcription,
Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines are then made from
this new process that is believed to be able to stimulate the body’s own immune
response. These vaccines carry orders from the messenger RNA, including the genetic
copies or code of a specific virus trait (virus antigen). The information
allows the body to produce the antigen on its own.
The
mRNA reassigns the information for the production of the antigen to the cell
machinery that expresses the proteins. Cells in our body then present the
antigen on their surface, and thus it activates the preferred specific immune
response.
When
the body comes in contact with the virus, the immune system recognizes the
specific antigen. It then wrestles the virus in a targeted manner.
The entry of the COVID-19, into the host cell in humans involves the
coronavirus spike protein that is located on the surface of the virus.
mRNA
vaccines against COVID-19 are intended to provide our bodies with the code to
produce the non-infectious virus according to the manufactures claim
The
spike proteins instruct the cell’s machinery help stimulate a natural immune
response. This response is also achieved principally through T-cells
Once
a person is vaccinated and later comes into contact with SARS-CoV-2, the immune
system will recognize the surface structure and will be able to combat the
virus and destroy it.
Neutralizing
antibodies targeted at SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the body will immediately bind
to the virus by “neutralizing” it and inhibiting it from entering the cell
The T
cells simultaneously also assist the immune system to fight intracellular
infections and can also destroy the infected cells directly.
Thus, according to the manufacturer’s claim, unlike conventional vaccines, a
mRNA vaccine does not contain any viral proteins itself, but only the
information from the synthetic mRNA that our own cells need to produce a virus
trait that triggers the desired immune response.
But the question we also need to ask is, if the vaccine merely
mimics the surface structure that is synthetically-produced, and hence it is also
bio-similar to the real virus
In such a scenario, wouldn’t this molecular fragment over time
becomes biologically active into the real virus?
This would be very similar to how viruses first evolved other
than the theories give above.
The supposedly nitrogen compounds or base plus sugars - pentose sugar (5-carbon sugar) and the phosphate
group, that may have been floating in the warm primordial oceans
between 3,800 to 4,000 million years ago may have formed the first nucleic
acids, and subsequently integrated into nucleotides chains that then evolves
into real viruses. These compounds were
pre-life as precursors to the real virus to be evolved later
It may seem to take a long, time under the natural environment where
no other host were present 4 billion years ago. But to my understanding, this may not be the
case where a human host is already available right now for it to immediately
hijack and evolve into a real virus exceedingly rapidly especially with a lot
of human genomic materials to help it, exactly like bacteria being found to be
very capable of incorporating stray DNA from the environment into their own for
them to evolve into better and hardier strains. This is the real risk we need
to consider.
This is the same analogy with drugs that exerts the same pharmacological
effect on the body, whether they were the original patented drugs or their
generic bio-similars since their molecular structure, configuration and mass of
both patented and generic are exactly the same. Both exert the same effect on
the body.
In short, it to my mind, it makes no difference if the mRNA
vaccine was synthetic or extracted from the real Covid-19 virus because their
molecular similarity
I think this is the real risk no one so far is able to answer or
for sure.
Logically, I have my personal reservations with this
hardly-studied technology
1 comment:
Great Sifu,
Just testing if I post a comment on your blog. Lau
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