Vaccines against COVID-19 can not change our genes and do not stay in our body for more than a few days, say the Professors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Efstathios Kastritis and Thanos Dimopoulos (Rector EKPA), responding to the ” unfounded fear ” that these new vaccines “are not real vaccines, but that our genes will be altered or inserted into the DNA of our cells “.
It is quite common, say the two Professors, especially on social media to mention that these vaccines are a type of gene therapy, and although in part this is not entirely wrong, some important details about how vaccines work are omitted: no they can change our genes and do not stay in our body for more than a few days. There are many distortions about the mechanism of action by individuals and organizations that are not related to science or have no relevant knowledge, call vaccines “gene therapy”, claim that “they are not real vaccines” and that “cause the production of toxin by the body “.
EKPA professors Efstathios Kastritis and Thanos Dimopoulos say that these misunderstandings are largely due to the fact that although vaccines against COVID are based on solid scientific data and on really new scientific advances, they may sound complicated to most. people who do not have special training or involvement in the field.
Differences Between Pfizer-Moderna and Johnson & Johnson-Astra Zeneca Vaccines
They explain that the vaccines designed and produced by Pfizer and Moderna use tiny “folders” of lipids called lipid nanoparticles to insert a single piece of genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA) into our cells. This contains the information for building the virus's protein. The Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca / Oxford vaccine is slightly different. They use a double-stranded DNA molecule that is inserted into a common but inactive virus called an adenovirus. This piece of DNA also contains instructions for building the virus's protein. Once inside the cell, these instructions are read and translated into mRNA.
Eventually these mRNA fragments go to the cytoplasm which is the “body” of our cells. Roughly speaking, the cytoplasm resembles a gelatinous fluid that contains small organelles with various functions necessary for the cell. There, in the cytoplasm, about 200,000 other pieces of messenger RNA (mRNA) are translated and assembled, which are also found in the cytoplasm of every cell, as our cells produce proteins and enzymes continuously.
MRNA chains are basically a code that describes the instructions for the production of proteins. In the case of vaccines, it contains the instructions for the production of the spike proteins with which the coronavirus binds to our cells to infect them. Spike protein is one of the most recognizable features of the virus in our immune system. Our cells read this mRNA and use it to assemble the pins. The spikes then migrate to the outer shell of our cells where they are recognized by our immune system which now acquires memory for them (“remembers” them).
“Spikes can not cause the disease, they are fingerprints of the virus”
These pins, by themselves, are not dangerous. They can not cause disease, and are usually incomplete (mostly small pieces coming to the surface of the cell). These are essentially “fingerprints” of the virus that help the immune system identify and fight the real culprit (the SARS-CoV-2 virus) when it invades. Vaccine mRNA chains have a short lifespan and remain only for two days before being dismantled and their fragments recycled by the cell waste disposal system.
But because messenger RNA is genetic material, in this sense, vaccines are a treatment based on the principles of genetics and certainly not a gene therapy. So the FDA classifies them as vaccines, not as gene therapy.
But many people hear or read the expression “genetic” or “genetic” and believe that their DNA will change, the professors note. They emphasize that this is not possible. In order for vaccines to alter an individual's genes, the instructions contained in the mRNA must enter the cell's control center, the nucleus. The nucleus separates from the rest of the cell by its own membrane. To cross this membrane, the mRNA must have a specific enzyme, but it does not. But even if it could get into the nucleus, the single-stranded mRNA molecule would have to be translated back into a double-stranded DNA molecule.
Some viruses, such as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can do just that. It does this by using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to insert it into chromosomes. However, the mRNA contained in vaccines lacks this enzyme, so it cannot be transcribed into DNA. The adenovirus DNA used in the Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca / Oxford vaccines enters the nucleus of our cells, but never integrates into our chromosomes.
But even after these two steps, there is a third firewall between the vaccines and our genes: Another enzyme, called integrase, would be needed to attach the new DNA to the DNA of our cells. This is also not present in vaccines. Therefore, the chances of vaccine mRNA being incorporated into the genetic material are zero.
It is true, the Professors point out, that these are some of the first vaccines to work this way, but this technology has been around for several years. But the billions given to the research gave a final impetus to its further development. Today, these vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of people. They are some of the most effective in preventing serious complications of COVID and so far are effective in all variants of the virus.
While vaccine-related side effects are very rare, the FDA has made it clear that the benefits of getting such a vaccine outweigh these rare risks to most people. But there is more to learn. For example, we need special studies to really understand how long the protection lasts but also how well this technology can adapt to other viruses, conclude the two Professors of EKPA.
