[HN Gopher] Moderna to hire around 2k employees amid mRNA develo...
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       Moderna to hire around 2k employees amid mRNA development push
        
       Author : mfiguiere
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2023-03-10 17:59 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | newmanah223 wrote:
       | Im betting mRNA vaccines will replace all traditional vaccines,
       | provided there are not any long term risks found.
       | 
       | Many traditional vaccines contain live, weakened bacteria or
       | viruses, (or dead ones which can become active) which can
       | actually kill someone.
       | 
       | mRNA uses a natural mechanicism for protein synthesis to create
       | proteins that the body recognizes as foreign. The immune system
       | then develops a response. So if a virus containing that protein
       | enters the body in the future, you already know to attack it.
       | 
       | People don't understand what a game changer this technology is
       | for human health.
        
       | guestbest wrote:
       | > The latest move comes at a time when Moderna has been working
       | on developing vaccines for skin cancer, flu and respiratory
       | syncytial virus (RSV) using its mRNA technology
       | 
       | Will it still be possible to get vaccines developed without mRNA
       | or will that be phased out completely? Also, I didn't know there
       | were vaccines for skin cancer, so this will likely be replacing
       | whatever the old treatment with traditional vaccines
        
         | jfengel wrote:
         | There isn't a vaccine for skin cancer. This is a completely
         | novel thing, enabled by the ability of mRNA vaccines to be
         | developed rapidly once you have a target.
         | 
         | It seems certain to replace flu vaccines, which are incredibly
         | awkward. They take a very long time to produce, which means
         | they need to start well in advance of flu season. Some years
         | they guess right about what influenza variants will be
         | prominent; others they don't. If the mRNA based flu vaccine
         | works, I doubt they'll go through the immense effort of
         | developing the conventional vaccine.
         | 
         | But childhood vaccines (MMR, DPT, etc) work pretty well, and
         | cause little harm, so they don't seem like good targets for
         | replacement any time soon. The first targets will certainly be
         | things that aren't currently under control, which has the
         | advantage of being both (a) good for world health, and (b) good
         | for their bottom line.
         | 
         | They may some day try to replace the existing conventional
         | vaccines, especially if it spawns a new industry looking for
         | markets to target. But for the next decade at least it'll all
         | be new stuff.
        
         | gus_massa wrote:
         | For covid-19, we got mRNA vaccines (small blobs of some mRNA
         | surrounded by oil) , vector virus vaccines (genetically
         | modified virus,) and traditional inactivated (aka "dead") virus
         | vaccines. I think there are no attenuated virus vaccines.
         | 
         | So I expect for some time to still get new vaccines that uses
         | different method. mRNA is more expensive but more flexible, so
         | I expect it to win in the long run. But as the sibling comment
         | says, they will be used first for new illness because if it
         | ain't broke, don't fix it.
         | 
         | Anyway, a replacement of the polio vaccine may be a good
         | candidate.
        
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