To your point, most of what we know about mRNA [vaccines] comes from work on cancer
Most work on using mRNA to provoke an immune response has so far been focused on cancer, with tumor mRNA being used to help people’s immune systems recognize and respond to the proteins produced by their specific tumors. ‘This technology was very good for the oncology field, because you can develop patient-specific vaccines because every tumor is different,’ said Prof. Bekeredjian-Ding.
Using tumor mRNA in this way activates the body’s T-cells – the part of the acquired immune system that kills cells, which is useful to destroy tumors. It could be important for coronavirus, too. ‘In viral infections, often we know that there is a need for a strong T-cell response because viruses like to hide in cells,’ said Prof. Bekeredjian-Ding. ‘There is a certain hope that, especially in this setting, this could really work … and thereby eliminate … the infected cells from the body.’
But to combat a virus such as SARS-CoV-2, it is likely that a different part of the acquired immune system also needs to be activated – the B cells, which produce antibodies that mark the virus out for destruction by the body. ‘And there is little experience with this (apart from animal infection models), because for the tumor model this was not that relevant.’
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
