How SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) mRNA-based Vaccines Work

February 22, 2021

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic hit the entire world and caused millions of deaths. More than fifty companies race towards developing a vaccine to stop the disease (1). Vaccination presents a lasting solution to this unfavourable situation, reducing the burden of Coronavirus (2). The first vaccine to be approved for emergency use is an mRNA-based vaccine (3,4). How does it work? Here, I will shed some light on this, but before we go into details, we need to discuss a little about vaccines and how a foreign substance provokes an immune response in the body (immunogenicity).

Early impact of vaccines on humanity

Vaccines have existed since 1796 and have saved millions of lives over the years (5,6). Vaccines need to be given orally, intramuscularly or subcutaneously to, stimulate the body for an immune response and generate lasting immunity.

How the body fights diseases

The human body works very hard to remove any foreign substance (potential pathogens). When pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses enter the body, they attack and spread, causing disease. The immune system fights these infections recognizing a part of the pathogen using white blood cells which consist primarily of macrophages, B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes (7). Macrophages are antigen-presenting cells that engulf pathogens and digest them. Macrophages present parts of the pathogens to the T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. When the B-lymphocytes are activated, they produce antibodies that target specific pathogens and destroy them. Also, when the T-lymphocytes are activated by the antigen-presenting cells, they seek out and destroy any infected cell in the body. However, it takes a couple of days for the body to generate the antibodies to fight an infection. After recovering from an infection, the immune system can remember how it fought the infection and can quickly in the future, prevent reinfection by the same or similar diseases.  When the infection is gone, the body is left with the supply of memory cells called T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that are responsible for this rapid intervention (7). Vaccines cause the same process but without a serious illness and often even without an infection. Individuals react to vaccines differently, some persons experience symptoms like swelling or redness at the injection site, low-grade fever, tiredness etc. These minor symptoms result as the body tries to build immunity against the disease, and it is your body`s healthy response. It would be no good and impracticable for the vaccine to cause the full-blown disease - instead, vaccines prime the immune system to jump into action should you ever encounter the real thing. 

Traditional vaccines

Traditional vaccines contain either an attenuated (live or weakened) virus, an inactivated virus, or even a piece of a viral protein that can produce the immune answer – a so-called antigen that does not cause an actual disease but still stimulates the body to produce antibodies to fight a real infection (8). It tricks the immune system into thinking that an infection has occurred and the immune system responds by producing antibodies against the virus (9). mRNA-vaccines, however, do not contain dead or live pieces of the virus – they contain the genetic instructions necessary for our cells to make copies of the antigen itself. So, what is mRNA?

What is mRNA?

mRNA is how our body encodes information from the genome that is to be used as blueprints to make proteins: In every human cell, we find a nucleus that contains our genome in the form of DNA. This DNA is transcribed into mRNA, which then can leave the nucleus and enter the rest of the cell. DNA itself cannot leave the nucleus and this protects the cell’s genome from damage and manipulation. Once outside the nucleus, the mRNA is translated into proteins which then fulfil all kind of work tasks in our cells – they make up our hair, break down our food, transport oxygen around our body (10,11). They pretty much do everything that makes us go.

An mRNA vaccine exploits this process: When the mRNA vaccine enters our cells, it effectively skips the transcription step (DNA to RNA) and goes straight to translation (mRNA to proteins) to produce antigenic proteins (10,12).

How do the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccines work? 

The best antigen in the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 – the bit which is recognized by the immune system – is the spike protein. The outside of the SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) is carries these spike proteins, which the virus uses to enter human cells and cause an infection.

New mRNA vaccines contain messenger RNA which encodes the spike protein and as it enters the cell, the spike proteins are produced within the cell. The spike protein then migrate to the surface of the cell, where the immune system recognizes it as foreign and the body will produce antibodies to fight the infection. At this point, the process to produce immunity is the same as for any other vaccine. When infected again, the body can rapidly supply memory cells- T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that remember how to attack a similar pathogen. So, when the real coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (spike proteins and all) enters the body, the immune system remembers how it fought the formerly produced spike proteins and can easily fight off the infection.

What is in the vaccine and why do we use it?

mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines contain the mRNA strands encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (think soap bubble) to protect it from hot temperatures as well as degrading enzymes (13,14). After being injected intramuscularly, the protection offered by the lipid nanoparticles helps the mRNA to remain active/potent until it enters the cells and releases mRNA. 

There are some advantages to mRNA vaccines, and I think it can be expected that we will soon see more of them for other illnesses. The production of mRNA vaccine doses is much faster and cheaper than traditional vaccines since it does not require a long process of growing viral proteins in a cell or an egg which then needs to be deactivated or killed to produce the vaccine (15). Also, in mRNA vaccines there is never a complete virus, so contracting the disease is impossible, which can happen with live vaccines. Finally, should mutations occur, it is relatively straightforward to change the mRNA vaccine to contain this new mutation.

However, the storage temperature of an mRNA vaccine is a challenge: they need to be stored at a very low temperature to maintain its potency until it is ready to be used and this type of freezer is not available everywhere and makes transport difficult compared to a traditional vaccine (14,16).

Can an mRNA-based vaccine change my DNA? 

As the vaccine contains no so-called “reverse-transcriptase”, the spike mRNA cannot be converted into DNA. mRNA-based vaccines cannot even enter the cell’s nucleus. Hence, they are not able to change your DNA. They are just a messenger to produce the spike protein and the enzymes of the cell readily destroy them shortly afterwards. Also, the unfortunate cell itself is destroyed by the immune system once it displays the spike on the surface and the immune system has learned to recognize it.

Do I still need to wear masks?

Also, remember that after getting vaccinated, your body needs time to develop antibodies in sufficient quantities, so you can still contract Coronavirus even after being vaccinated. Hence, we need to maintain safety measures (social distancing, masking, handwashing etc) while allowing immunity to develop after being vaccinated. It is also still unclear what happens if an infected person is vaccinated, or in people who have no strong immune system (immunocompromised patients). “I have been vaccinated, can I now go, hugging and kissing on the street?” Sorry, you can’t. This is because you can still contract the virus even after being vaccinated: the body needs time to develop immunity against an infection. This is the main reason for jab-spacing as it enables the body to build an immune response.

Conclusion

Vaccines trigger the production of memory cells (T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes) to fight infections and can protect us from life-threatening diseases. The more people get vaccinated, the more likely we are to achieve herd-immunity, where even unvaccinated people are protected. A good example of herd-immunity is a burning bush. The fire keeps spreading but when it encounters a large space or a river, it stops spreading and the other side of the bush will not be affected. However, the space must be large enough to make this happen. Vaccinated individuals are like the large space or river, they help in stopping the spread of the disease to the unvaccinated hence, protecting the unvaccinated. Also, remember that for this kind of protection to occur, a sufficient number of individuals must have been vaccinated. There is no scientific basis to show that an mRNA-based vaccine can change your DNA. Developing an mRNA vaccine within a short period is a phenomenal advancement in science. As people are being vaccinated, every other protective measure is encouraged if we want to end this pandemic. We can only think of relaxing measures when the number of cases has considerably reduced. Stay safe and healthy, and together we are protected.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Dr Andrea Thorn, Dr Dale Tronrud, Dr Sam Horrell and Dr Yunyun Gao for their wonderful and helpful suggestions. Also, my thanks go to Dr Thomas Splettstoesser for making an image used for this post.

References

1.         Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. COVID-19 vaccine tracker [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jan 10]. Available from: https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

2.         Nature Communications. Vaccines work. Nat Commun [Internet]. 2018 Apr 24 [cited 2021 Jan 3];9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5915378/

3.         FDA. COVID-19 Vaccines. FDA [Internet]. 2021 Feb 18 [cited 2021 Feb 19]; Available from: https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines

4.         Mueller B. U.K. Approves Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine, a First in the West. The New York Times [Internet]. 2020 Dec 2 [cited 2021 Feb 19]; Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/world/europe/pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-approved-uk.html

5.         World Health Organization. Vaccines and immunization [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jan 10]. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccines-and-immunization#tab=tab_1

6.         Thèves C, Biagini P, Crubézy E. The rediscovery of smallpox. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 2014 Mar;20(3):210–8. 

7.         Vitetta ES, Berton MT, Burger C, Kepron M, Lee WT, Yin XM. Memory B and T Cells. Annual Review of Immunology. 1991;9(1):193–217. 

8.         Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basics of Vaccines | CDC [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2021 Jan 10]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vpd-vac-basics.html

9.         Sell S. How vaccines work: immune effector mechanisms and designer vaccines. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2019 Oct;18(10):993–1015. 

10.       Pardi N, Hogan MJ, Porter FW, Weissman D. mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 2018 Apr 1;17(4):261–79. 

11.       Zhang C, Maruggi G, Shan H, Li J. Advances in mRNA Vaccines for Infectious Diseases. Front Immunol [Internet]. 2019 Mar 27 [cited 2021 Jan 11];10. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6446947/

12.       Jackson NAC, Kester KE, Casimiro D, Gurunathan S, DeRosa F. The promise of mRNA vaccines: a biotech and industrial perspective. npj Vaccines. 2020 Feb 4;5(1):11. 

13.       Martin C, Lowery D. mRNA vaccines: intellectual property landscape. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020 Sep;19(9):578–578. 

14.       Baden LR, Sahly HME, Essink B, Kotloff K, Frey S, Novak R, et al. Efficacy and Safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine. New England Journal of Medicine [Internet]. 2020 Dec 30 [cited 2021 Jan 10]; Available from: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389

15.       Sandbrink JB, Shattock RJ. RNA Vaccines: A Suitable Platform for Tackling Emerging Pandemics? Front Immunol. 2020;11:608460. 

16.       Pan American Health Organization WHO. COVID-19 Vaccine Explainer: COMIRNATY®, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine - PAHO/WHO | Pan American Health Organization [Internet]. [cited 2021 Feb 5]. Available from: https://www.paho.org/en/documents/covid-19-vaccine-explainer-comirnatyr-covid-19-mrna-vaccine

Corinna the Corona Cactus

@
Corinna works as an outreach person for all plant-related business and as a mascot. She gathered previous experience in the garden center, and even though she can be a bit spiky, she likes to cuddle and lie in the sun.
More about this author

Helen Ginn

Senior Research Scientist @ Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire, UK
Dr Helen Ginn is a senior research scientist at Diamond Light Source in the UK and a computational methods developer in structural biology. She is currently working on Representation of Protein Entities (RoPE) for structural biologists to interpret subtle conformational changes in dynamic protein systems. She has developed Vagabond for torsion angle-driven model refinement and […]
More about this author

Nick Pearce

Assistant Professor @ SciLifeLab DDLS Fellow
Nick obtained his undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Oxford in 2012, and then his PhD in Systems Approaches to Biomedical Sciences in 2016. He moved to Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2017 to work with Piet Gros, where he obtained an EMBO long-term fellowship and worked on analysing disorder in macromolecular structures. […]
More about this author

Mathias Schmidt

Molecular Life Sciences M.Sc. Student @ Hamburg University
Mathias is currently doing his Master's degree in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Hamburg and has been an auxiliary scientist in the Corona Structural Taskforce since March 2022. There he is working on the question of the origin of SARS-CoV-2. His undergraduate research focuses on the development of synthetic molecular mechanisms to regulate […]
More about this author

David Briggs

Principal Laboratory Research Scientist @ Francis Crick Institute in London, UK
David Briggs is a Principal Laboratory Research Scientist in the Signalling and Structural Biology lab at the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK. A crystallographer by training, his work focuses on the biophysical and structural characterisation of human extracellular proteins involved in the synapse, which have important ramifications in both psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. He […]
More about this author

Lisa Schmidt

Web Developer and Illustrator @ Mullana
Lisa Schmidt is a freelance illustrator who studied Multimedia and Communication (BA) in Ansbach, Germany. Her work is focused on visualising topics around science and technology. She joined the Coronavirus Structural Task Force as media designer, where she does web design, 3D rendering for scientific illustrations and outreach work.
More about this author

Philip Wehling

Nanosciences M.Sc. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Philip has long had an enthusiasm for biological processes which is paired with an analytical understanding of the world. After having worked for a long time as a registered nurse in various fields, he first studied mathematics and finally nanosciences. During a lecture series in preparation for a bachelor's thesis, he came into contact with […]
More about this author

Binisha Karki

Postdoctoral Research Associate @ BioNTech SE
Binisha works as a research associate at BioNTech where she works on the development of COVID-19 vaccine and cancer immunotherapies. She graduated as a Molecular Biology major from Southeastern Louisiana University in May 2019. Post-graduation she worked as a research technician in the Chodera Lab performing biophysical measurements of model protein-ligand systems for computational chemistry […]
More about this author

Binisha Karki

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin @ BioNTech SE
Binisha ist als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin bei BioNTech angestellt und arbeitet an der Entwicklung von Impfstoffen gegen COVID-19 sowie Krebsimmuntherapien. Sie beendete ihr Studium der Molekularbiologie an der Southeastern Louisiana University im Mai 2019. Anschließend arbeitete sie als Forschungstechnikerin im Chodera-Lab, wo sie biophysikalische Messungen an Modellen von Protein-Liganden-Systeme für computerchemische Benchmarks durchführte.
More about this author

Hauke Hillen

Assistant Professor at the University Medical Center Göttingen & Group Leader at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry @ University Medical Center Göttingen
Hauke ist Biochemiker und Strukturbiologe. Mit seinem Forschungsteam untersucht er mittels Röntgenkristallografie und Kryo-Elektronenmikroskopie die Struktur und Funktion von molekularen Maschinen, die für die Genexpression in eukaryotischen Zellen verantwortlich sind. Er interessiert sich dabei besonders dafür wie genetisches Material außerhalb des Zellkerns exprimiert wird, zum Beispiel in menschlichen Mitochondrien oder durch Viren im Zytoplasma.
More about this author

Richardson Lab

Richardson Lab @ Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
The long-term goal of the Richardson lab is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the 3D structures of proteins and RNA, including their description, determinants, folding, evolution, and control. Their approaches include structural bioinformatics, macromolecular crystallography, molecular graphics, analysis of structures, and methods development, currently focussed on the improvement of structural accuracy. In this […]
More about this author

Holger Theymann

Agile Leadership Coach @ mehr-Freu.de GmbH
Holger keeps websites running. He makes data from scientific databases appear in nice tables. He also has an eye on keeping the sites fast, safe and reliable. His experience as a software developer, systems architect, agile project manager and coach enabled the Task Force to get the whole process well organized and he even taught […]
More about this author

Florens Fischer

Biology M.Sc. Student @ Rudolf Virchow Center, Würzburg University
Florens is studying biology (M.Sc.) and worked in the Task Force as a student assistant. He has focused on bioinformatics and supports the work on automation of scripts and structuralization of big data with machine learning. He also supported the team in other areas, such as scientific research.
More about this author

Ezika Joshua Onyeka

Public Health M.Sc. student @ Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Joshua joined Thorn Lab as a student assistant. He is a Public Health practitioner, holds a bachelor's degree in Public Health and is currently enrolled at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences for his MPH. He has helped in implementing some vaccination programmes to improve immunisation coverage and training of immunisation frontline health workers. For the […]
More about this author

Katharina Hoffmann

Molecular Biology M.Sc. student @ Institut für Nanostruktur und Festkörperphysik, Universität Hamburg
Katharina worked as a student assistant at Thorn Lab. Normally, she studies molecular biology at the University of Hamburg. In her master's thesis, which was put on hold by Corona, she is working on the interruption of bacterial communication. Since the lockdown, she has been digging around in databases and analyzing sequences. She never thought […]
More about this author

Nicole Dörfel

Media Designer @
Nicole Dörfel ensures that we and our work are looking good! She is the illustrator, media designer and the artistic soul of the Task Force. She works her magic both in print and digitally—her focus is general media design. In the Task Force, she is mainly responsible for graphics, photo editing, design of all our […]
More about this author

Pairoh Seeliger

Administration Assistant @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Pairoh Seeliger is the admin wizard of the Task Force. She takes care of media requests, handles any logistical issues that come up and makes sure our science doesn’t sound too complicated in our German outreach efforts. She self-describes as "a jack of all trades with a University education in German studies and business administration, […]
More about this author

Oliver Kippes

Biochemistry B.Sc. Student @ Rudolf Virchow Center, Würzburg University
Oli is studying biochemistry (B.Sc) and has completed a training as an IT specialist prior to his studies. With the combined knowledge of his studies and training, he helps maintaining the structural database, programs applications for it and supports the team in literature research. In spite of his study, structural biology was still a new […]
More about this author

Luise Kandler

Biochemistry B.Sc. Student @ Rudolf-Virchow Center, Würzburg University
Luise is a B.Sc. student in biochemistry at the University of Würzburg and joined the Task Force during the first Corona lockdown. She did her bachelor's thesis with the Thorn Lab, where she learned programming with Python and worked on the implementation of a GUI for our machine learning tool HARUSPEX in Coot. In the […]
More about this author

Ferdinand Kirsten

Biochemistry B.Sc. Student @ Rudolf Virchow Center, Würzburg University
Ferdinand did his bachelor's thesis at Thorn Lab on solvent exchange and interactions in macromolecular crystallography. Still new to the world of crystallography and structural refinement, he tries to help wherever he can, with a main focus on literature and genome research as well as structural refinement with Coot. Even if he's more of the […]
More about this author

Kristopher Nolte

Biochemistry B.Sc. Student @ Rudolf-Virchow Center, Würzburg University
Kristopher joined Thorn Lab as part of his bachelor thesis. In this thesis he refined aspects of the diagnostic tool for graphical X-Ray data analysis (AUSPEX) with the help of machine learning. But since the corona crisis halted all our lives, he contributes to the Task Force by using his knowledge of bioinformatics and programming […]
More about this author

Erik Nebelung

Nanoscience M.Sc. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Erik is studying nanoscience with a focus on biochemical methods and applications. From August 2020 till January 2021 he pursued his studies at the iNano institute in Aarhus, before starting his master's thesis back in Hamburg. He had his first taste of protein crystallization during his bachelor's thesis work and this sparked his interest in […]
More about this author

Toyin Akinselure

Nanoscience M.Sc. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Toyin ist a microbiologist and presently an M.Sc. student in nanoscience with a focus on nanobiology and nanochemistry. She is interested in scientific research especially in protein chemistry and drug discovery. In the previous autumn and winter, she interned with two research projects, one in drug discovery and the other in protein structure. She found […]
More about this author

Lea von Soosten

Physics M.Sc. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Lea is a M.Sc. physics student with a great interest in everything related to biology. Even though she comes from a different field, she joined the team to expand her knowledge in biochemistry and help the Task Force with a main focus on literature research. Also, she loves drawing!
More about this author

Sabrina Stäb

Biotechnology M.Sc. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Sabrina is studying biochemistry (M.Sc.) and works as a research assistant for the Thorn Lab and the CSTF. During her bachelor thesis on "Crystallization and Structure Solution of High-Quality Structures for MAD Experiments", she was able to gain a lot of experience in the field of crystallography and now brings this experience to the project. […]
More about this author

Alexander Matthew Payne

Chemical Biology Ph.D. Student @ Chodera Lab, Memorial Sloan Kettering Center for Cancer Research, New York, U.S.
Alex is a Ph.D. student interested in understanding how proteins move! He has recently joined the labs of John Chodera and Richard Hite to work on a joint project involving molecular dynamics and Cryo-EM. His goal is to generate conformational ensembles from Cryo-EM data and simulate the ensemble using massive scale molecular dynamics via Folding@Home. […]
More about this author

Maximilian Edich

Bioinformatics Ph.D. Student @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Max studied bioinformatics and genome research in Bielefeld and joined the CSTF as a Ph.D. student in 2021. Previously, his focus was on molecular modeling. Now, he works on the so-called R-factor gap. He already learned what it is like to be part of a young, scientific team as a member of the iGEM contest […]
More about this author

Agnel Praveen Joseph

Computational Scientist @ Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK
Dr. Agnel Praveen works as a computational scientist in the CCP-EM team at the Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK. He is interested in approaches to interpret and validate maps and atomic models derived from Cryo-EM data and looks also into computational methods for the interpretation of Cryo-ET data. In collaboration with five other sites […]
More about this author

Dale Tronrud

Research Scientist @
Dale Tronrud has both solved protein crystal structures and developed methods and software for the optimization of macromolecular models against X-ray data and known chemical structural information. He has had a long-standing interest in enzyme:inhibitor complexes and photosynthetic proteins, focusing on the Fenna-Matthews-Olson protein. In addition, he has also been involved in the validation and […]
More about this author

Sam Horrell

Beamline Scientist @ Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire, UK
Sam is a structural biologist working on method development around structural biology at Diamond Light Source, in particular for ways of better understanding how enzymes function through the production of structural movies. Sam is working through deposited structures related to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 with a view to providing the most accurate protein structures possible for […]
More about this author

Cameron Fyfe

Postdoctoral Research Associate @ Micalis Institute, INRAE, Paris, France
Cameron is a structural biologist who has worked extensively on proteins from microorganisms. With many years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and in structural biology research, he joined the Task Force to contribute his skills to improve existing models for drug development. He is currently researching Radical SAM enzymes at INRAE. When not in […]
More about this author

Tristan Croll

Postdoctoral Research Associate @ Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge
Tristan is a specialist in the modelling of atomic structures into low-resolution crystallographic and cryo-EM density, and developer of the model-building package ISOLDE. His focus in the project is on correcting the various errors in geometry and/or chemical identity that tend to occur in less well-resolved regions, with the overall aim of bringing the standards […]
More about this author

Gianluca Santoni

Serial Crystallography Data Scientist @ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
Gianluca is an expert in protein crystallography data collection and analysis. After a PhD in structure-based drug design, he has worked as a postdoc on the beamline ID23-1 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and has developed the SSX data analysis software ccCluster. His current interests are the optimization of data collection strategies for […]
More about this author

Yunyun Gao

Postdoctoral Research Associate in the AUSPEX Project @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Yunyun is a method developer for strategies of analysing data from biomacromolecules. Before joining the Thorn group, he had been working on SAXS/WAXS of polymers and proteins. He is interested in improving objectivity and reliability of data analysis. Yunyun is currently extending the functionality of AUSPEX. He is the repository manager and AUSPEX handler for […]
More about this author

Johannes Kaub

Scientific Coordinator @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Johannes Kaub studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen, with a focus on solid-state physical chemistry, before serving as a scientific employee at the Max Planck Instiute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter. He supports the Coronavirus Structural Task Force as a scientific coordinator with his organizing ability and his talent for solving problems. Other than […]
More about this author

Andrea Thorn

Group Leader @ Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg University
Andrea is a specialist for crystallography and Cryo-EM structure solution, having contributed to programs like SHELX, ANODE and (a little bit) to PHASER in the past. Her group develops the diffraction diagnostics tool AUSPEX, a neural network for secondary structure annotation of Cryo-EM maps (HARUSPEX) and enables other scientists to solve problem structures. Andrea is […]
More about this author

One comment on “How SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) mRNA-based Vaccines Work”

  1. Was ist mit den Cap-Strukturen 5'UTR und 3'UTR des mRNA-Impfstoffes, welches nur das Struktur Protein codiert ? Sollen die fremden Viren mRNA-Stränge des Impfstoffes von den RNA-Sensoren (RIG-I, Mda-5, IFIT) erkannt werden ? Wird das translatierte Spike (S) Gen zu einem Protein auch an die MHC-I Moleküle gebunden, um es als Antigene zu präsentieren ?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cross