mRNA and What Comes Next

What if your cells could temporarily receive instructions for making a protein?

That's essentially the idea behind mRNA vaccines. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, carries genetic instructions that cells can use to make proteins. Instead of putting an entire virus into the body, an mRNA vaccine gives cells temporary instructions for making a harmless piece of a pathogen. The immune system can then learn to recognize that protein and prepare for a future infection. The mRNA doesn't permanently change the cell's DNA; after the instructions have been used, the mRNA is broken down.

Although mRNA vaccines became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers had been studying the technology for decades beforehand. Scientists are now investigating whether mRNA could be used for other infectious diseases and as a tool for certain cancer treatments and other medical applications. The technology shows how understanding something as small as a molecule can eventually lead to completely new medical tools.