{"id":48587,"date":"2020-12-10T19:30:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T00:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/?p=48587"},"modified":"2023-06-06T18:03:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T22:03:58","slug":"the-science-of-mrna-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_5985\" class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 275px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5985\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2018\/12\/david-wohl-e1586534510632-265x300.jpeg\" alt=\"david-wohl-headshot\" width=\"265\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2018\/12\/david-wohl-e1586534510632-265x300.jpeg 265w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2018\/12\/david-wohl-e1586534510632-301x340.jpeg 301w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2018\/12\/david-wohl-e1586534510632.jpeg 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\" \/><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">David Wohl, MD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In our bodies right now, messenger RNA, or mRNA, is sending genetic instructions for cells to make proteins\u2014the machines of life that make heart muscles beat, hair follicles grow, and many other biological process happen. This mRNA is a long molecule that contains instructions that a cell uses to create proteins.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing this, in January 2020 scientists sequenced the entire genetic code of SARS-CoV-2, which causes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unchealthcare.org\/coronavirus\/?_ga=2.173585379.1991698888.1607350417-681021418.1583437772\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)<\/a>, and discovered the mRNA that codes for the notorious spike proteins that get the virus into human cells. Scientists quickly produced this particular mRNA in the lab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink of mRNA as a text message to tell cells what to make,\u201d says UNC Health infectious diseases specialist\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/findadoc.unchealthcare.org\/details\/1830\/david-wohl-infectious_diseases-chapel_hill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">David A. Wohl, MD<\/a>. \u201cFor a vaccine, we\u2019ve been kind of clever and said, \u2018what if we send our cells a text message so that they make some of the virus proteins. Then our body would see these proteins and react by making antibodies against them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read the UNC Health Talk article <a href=\"https:\/\/healthtalk.unchealthcare.org\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our bodies right now, messenger RNA, or mRNA, is sending genetic instructions for cells to make proteins\u2014the machines of life that make heart muscles beat, hair follicles grow, and many other biological process happen. This mRNA is a long molecule that contains instructions that a cell uses to create proteins. Knowing this, in January &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69419,"featured_media":37725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100,2],"tags":[629],"class_list":["post-48587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-infectious-diseases","category-news","tag-629","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our bodies right now, messenger RNA, or mRNA, is sending genetic instructions for cells to make proteins\u2014the machines of life that make heart muscles beat, hair follicles grow, and many other biological process happen. This mRNA is a long molecule that contains instructions that a cell uses to create proteins. Knowing this, in January &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Medicine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNCDeptMedicine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kim Morris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uncdeptmedicine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uncdeptmedicine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kim Morris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kim Morris\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529\"},\"headline\":\"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\"},\"wordCount\":188,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2020\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Infectious Diseases\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\",\"name\":\"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg\",\"width\":290,\"height\":290,\"caption\":\"David Wohl, MD\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Department of Medicine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529\",\"name\":\"Kim Morris\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/95c34b3e4d55a602b94260bccc6350c2ddfdde901530a734fe6c8fa9e3a5d399?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/95c34b3e4d55a602b94260bccc6350c2ddfdde901530a734fe6c8fa9e3a5d399?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kim Morris\"},\"description\":\"Medicine - Dept of\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/author\/kcmorris\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine","og_description":"In our bodies right now, messenger RNA, or mRNA, is sending genetic instructions for cells to make proteins\u2014the machines of life that make heart muscles beat, hair follicles grow, and many other biological process happen. This mRNA is a long molecule that contains instructions that a cell uses to create proteins. Knowing this, in January &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/","og_site_name":"Department of Medicine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNCDeptMedicine","article_published_time":"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":290,"height":290,"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kim Morris","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uncdeptmedicine","twitter_site":"@uncdeptmedicine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kim Morris","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/"},"author":{"name":"Kim Morris","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529"},"headline":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines","datePublished":"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/"},"wordCount":188,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","keywords":["2020"],"articleSection":["Infectious Diseases","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/","name":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines | Department of Medicine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-11T00:30:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-06T22:03:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","width":290,"height":290,"caption":"David Wohl, MD"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/the-science-of-mrna-vaccines\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From UNC Health Talk: the Science of mRNA Vaccines"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/","name":"Department of Medicine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/9a358414a53d5237f9ba3f8daa55c529","name":"Kim Morris","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/95c34b3e4d55a602b94260bccc6350c2ddfdde901530a734fe6c8fa9e3a5d399?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/95c34b3e4d55a602b94260bccc6350c2ddfdde901530a734fe6c8fa9e3a5d399?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kim Morris"},"description":"Medicine - Dept of","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/author\/kcmorris\/"}]}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","featured_image_medium":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","featured_image_medium_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","featured_image_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot.jpg","featured_image_thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2016\/01\/Me-head-shot-150x150.jpg","featured_image_alt":"David Wohl, MD-covid-newsworthy-january-14-20","category_details":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/category\/infectious-diseases\/"},{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/category\/news\/"}],"tag_details":[{"name":"2020","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/tag\/2020\/"}],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}