Creating the next generation of mRNA vaccines

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines came to the rescue, developed in record time and saving lives worldwide. Harvard Medical School researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital have now developed two technologies that could make these and future mRNA vaccines more potent and longer-lasting — at smaller doses and with fewer side effects. Get more HMS news here Findings are described July 24 in Science Translational Medicine. Current mRNA COVID-19 vaccines instruct cells to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This helps the immune system recognize the virus and quickly make antibodies against it. However, these vaccines offer short-lived immune protection, requiring frequent boosters, and stimulate less of a response in people over 60. They also can cause side effects. The lab of David Dowling, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics in the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s, created a version that induces a more precise level of immune stimulation and that minimizes effects in non-targeted body tissues...