Can vaccine mRNAs modify our cells? Scientists explain

Vaccine skeptics fear that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines (BioNTech and Moderna) could affect the human genome and ultimately lead to cancer. A study of Swedish scientists is to prove this. However, experts believe that the indicated work does not confirm this and provide specific arguments.

Author: Pia Heinemann

1. Vaccine skeptics fear that COVID-19 vaccine mRNA could be incorporated into the genome of human cells. Evidence for this is, according to these people, a study of Swedish scientists
2. However, the researchers believe this work does not support the concerns of vaccine skeptics
3. However, if theoretically it happened that the complete mRNA information of the vaccine was integrated into the cell and the spike proteins were produced from this cell, it would be eliminated by the immune system – explains the immunologist Reinhold Förster
4. Swedish study does not change expert judgment: vaccination and possible side effects pose a lower risk than SARS-CoV-2 infection 
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A Swedish study that evokes emotions and concerns

The study by scientists from the University of Lund (Sweden) causes quite a stir in social media. As users write, it confirms the “worst fears” because it has proved that “vaccine RNA” has been integrated into the human genome. Behind this is a concern that worries many vaccine skeptics, namely: if the genetic information of vaccines were to be incorporated into human DNA, the risk of cancer following vaccination could increase. Meanwhile the study they cite as evidence does not support these concerns.

1. Biologist: Fears that the mRNA in the vaccine will modify our genome are unfounded

Scientists associated with Markus Aldén and Yang De Marinis from the aforementioned Lund University have published the results of their work in the academic journal Current Issues in Molecular Biology. In the study, they used a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (known as Huh7 cells), which can divide indefinitely. So it is practically immortal. Huh7 cells also differ from normal cells in the body in that in most cases the number of chromosomes varies between 55 and 63 (instead of 46) and is highly heterogeneous.

Considering the above, microbiologist Emanuel Wyler from the Center for Molecular Medicine. Max Delbrück in Berlin indicates that these cells are not representative of typical body cells. They lend themselves well to basic research, but the results cannot simply be transferred to humans.

Further part below the video.

What do the results of the survey from Sweden mean?

But let’s go back to the research article of Swedish scientists. Researchers placed the mRNA used in COVID-7 vaccines on Huh19 cells. Its amount was very high, many times exceeding the dose administered during immunization.

In the next step, the scientists showed that the LINE1 (L1) elements encoding the so-called retrotransposons (they constitute approx. 17% of the human genome). These are mobile elements of DNA that are designed to paste their copies into other areas of the chromosome, which can lead to the formation of mutations. They ensure that the vaccine mRNA can be transcribed into DNA. In their experiments, the scientists were able to demonstrate the presence of L1 and that DNA is also present in cells that contain the same sequences as the vaccine RNA. Does this provide evidence that the RNA from the vaccine is embedded in the DNA of the cell? I don’t think so.

First, the amounts of DNA were very small. In addition, the results of the work were not consistent: scientists found the largest amounts of DNA with the lowest and highest concentrations of mRNA applied to the cells. It was the lowest at medium concentrations. From a biological point of view, it would be more likely that an increase in RNA concentration would lead to an increase in DNA concentration. Moreover, it has not been proven that the found DNA fragments were actually incorporated into the cell’s DNA.

‘The study showed that the L1 elements were activated and that DNA was detected in very small amounts,’ notes Emanuel Wyler. “But it has not been shown that this DNA was also integrated into the genome of the cell.” In short: mRNA can possibly be transcribed into DNA, but it is unclear whether it is then integrated into the genome of cells.

“Experiments show that even under artificial conditions very little happens”

To check this, experiments similar to those published in May 2021 in the journal “PNAS” should be carried out. Scientists collaborating with Rudolf Jaenisch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 could be incorporated into the human genome. Here, too, L1 elements were activated. In addition, Jaenisch’s team examined samples from COVID-19 patients to see if they had fragments containing both the virus and the cell’s genome (evidence of viral integration into the genome). However, scientists from Sweden did not check whether the viral genome was incorporated into the cell’s DNA. Thus, the study cannot prove or disprove it.

“In his extensive work, Rudolf Jaenisch has shown that it is possible for a virus to set in motion mechanisms that can integrate viral genes into the human genome,” says Hannover Medical School immunologist Reinhold Förster. The fact that the coronavirus is able to do this is used, for example, to explain why some people, after being infected, test positive for long periods of time on a PCR test. The virus may then be absent, and only its genes that have been integrated into the patient’s DNA are identified.

“The fact that viruses can do this is not new,” says Förster. «It has been proven, among others for virus that causes lymphocytic meningitis ». The human herpes virus, which causes a three-day fever in young children, is also capable of this. The vast majority of people carry it in their genome.

However, this study did not show that mRNA vaccines are also able to do this. «Experiments show that even under artificial conditions, very little happens. Rather, it goes against such a claim »says Emanuel Wyler.

But what if the mRNA of the vaccines could integrate into the DNA of our cells?

“A question is important, and it is good when science looks to answer it,” says Reinhold Förster. «There are many experimental approaches available. However, the work carried out in the Swedish study is not suitable for this ». “However, if it happened that the complete mRNA information of the vaccine was integrated into the cell, and then the spike proteins were formed, such a cell would be recognized and eliminated by the immune system” – explains the immunologist, recalling that “in our body billions of cells are eliminated every day as part of natural renewal processes ».

The second option is that the information from mRNA vaccines is stored in our cell’s DNA, and an important gene specific to that cell is destroyed during this time. “Then this cell will die, or possibly” take “the first step towards abnormal growth.” It is not impossible, but the probability of this happening is very low. “But in biology, you can never be XNUMX% sure,” says Reinhold Förster.

It should be emphasized that the Swedish study, which arouses great emotions in social media, does not change the assessment of experts: vaccination and its possible side effects pose a lower risk than infection.

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