Credits: Photo courtesy of the School of Science
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Some of the most promising vaccines developed to combat Covid-19 rely on messenger RNA (mRNA) a template cells use to carry genetic instructions for producing proteins. The mRNA vaccines take advantage of this cellular process to make proteins that then trigger an immune response that targets SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Compared to other types of vaccines, recently developed technologies allow mRNA vaccines to be rapidly created and deployed on a large-scale crucial aspects in the fight against Covid-19. Within the year since the identification and sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, companies such as Pfizer and Moderna have developed mRNA vaccines and run large-scale trials in the race to have a vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a feat unheard of with traditional vaccines using live attenuated or inactive viruses. These vacci