Kelly ServickThe dramatic success of two COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials last month marked a triumph for a previously unproven medical technology.
The vaccines, one of which was authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week, rely on the genetic instructions known as messenger RNA (mRNA).
It prompts cells to make a SARS-CoV-2 protein that trains the immune system to recognize the virus.But long before the pandemic, mRNA tantalized pharma, promising a simple and flexible way to deliver both vaccines and drugs.
One mRNA sequence might mend a damaged heart by producing a protein that stimulates blood vessel growth. Another might encode a missing enzyme to reverse a rare genetic disease.