What are mRNA Vaccines ?
On January 6, 1955, scientists used the first formal genetic technology to make a purified and encapsulated messenger RNA. And since then, there has been massive progress in developing new technologies like DNA vaccine technology, protein-based vaccines, etc. With all technological innovations, we can’t just use them as they are in our everyday life. We need to do a lot of research and trial tests for many people. Then we will be able to find those people who are immune to these viruses or antibodies. If so, we call this disease neutralization antibody immunization.
What is Immune Neutralizing Antibodies
Immune neutralization is an antibody that prevents the human anti-virus immune system from attacking it. It’s called a ‘natural killer’ that attaches to a virus to inhibit its ability to replicate. An example might be T cells and B cells, which are also found in our body and can prevent infected cells from moving further into our body (killing), ultimately killing us of infection. In the case of natural killer cells or a type to be precisely known as B cells also has the same effect.
B Cells vs Anti-Virus Immunity
Our bodies can recognize a virus when it enters our cells through the envelope of a cell membrane. As soon as the spike protein binds to a receptor on the surface of our cells, it triggers an innate immune response to attack the infected virus, which usually gets activated by specific antigens present in the S-protein of the virus. That’s how CD8 T cells and macrophages can destroy a symptomatic person’s cells. They try to kill anything inside our body that makes sense. It can get infected with either HIV/AIDS, flu virus, etc. While on the other hand, our antiviral immune responses against the various strains of viruses can block the entry of the virus into our cells.
Why does the Viral Response in Our Body cause a Dose-Response to Infection?
When the trash gets cleared, several molecular processes in our cells are carried out, including apoptosis, lysing, and more. Those molecules help the cells to fight their death and eliminate the virus. The second part of an immune cell is the “helper cells,” which act as myeloid antigen-class cells. It is the majority that can trigger the inflammation and response and, more importantly, is responsible for providing a signal to your white blood cells for the production of T-cells and the development of memory B cells. So, once the pathogen becomes un-infected, our bodies can go full throttle, making a protective shield around it to protect the individual from getting infected. Most of the time, we don’t know how long immunity lasts due to a lack of proper testing for the presence of impunity in our bodies. And what if you find yourself infected even after being vaccinated?
The main threat for the current and upcoming generation is not what technology we are using but how much we make ourselves vulnerable to such infectious diseases, especially during outbreaks. Not everyone has to worry about a future episode. A simple thing like wearing a face mask could reduce the chance of exposure and thus prevent the spread of the disease. But to ensure this happens, most of us still wear a mask.
But there are more ways to protect yourself from various dangerous infections.
According to the World Health Organization, vaccination is the best method to prevent contracting infectious diseases. However, we couldn’t achieve world peace without having effective vaccines. The WHO estimates that around 80 percent of the world population needs to for protection. Hence, the focus needs to be on vaccinating people who can prevent transmission and stop a pandemic in a few weeks. One of the most extensive COVID vaccine programs is the Pfizer-BioNTech partnership, and they are already rolling out vaccinations across all countries. At least 50 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine globally. Last week US president Biden announced that he would release all available vaccines under emergency authorization.