STAT+: After a rough stretch, mRNA gets a boost — at least for now

The mRNA technology that built Moderna and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccines and is now being used to build cancer vaccines has been through political whiplash. But now, with clinical success from Moderna and Merck on using a personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma, experts are hoping for a more stable future for the field. 

“I don’t know how this will be received among parts of our society that have become suspicious of the word ‘vaccine.’ There’s a possibility that people will say, ‘Oh, if we can vaccinate against cancer, that’s good,’” said Ryan Sullivan, a Mass General Brigham melanoma physician and immunologist who has worked with Moderna. “Maybe that will thaw some of the stigma around vaccines. I don’t think it’ll fix all of it, but maybe just a little bit helps us think of ‘vaccine’ not as a dirty word, ‘mRNA’ as not a four-letter word.”

mRNA technology allows scientists to instruct cells to construct practically any protein or protein pieces by simply rewriting the mRNA’s genetic code. That is one of the technology’s greatest strengths, and what made it possible for scientists to develop Covid vaccines in under a year. It was also possible in part thanks to Operation Warp Speed, which helped fund and push the vaccine’s development. President Trump still calls it a “monumental national achievement” of his first term. 

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