The mRNA used in the COVID-19 vaccines has been modified from its naturally occurring form to prevent degradation by the immune system when injected. In a review published on April 5, researchers argue that modification—specifically, N1-methyl-pseudouridine modification—to mRNA causes immune suppression that may contribute to cancer development.
Uridine is a key component of mRNA. However, when mRNA is injected into the body, it is broken down by cells and also triggers a broad immune response, leading to its rapid degradation. This immune response can be bypassed: Researchers Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman found that when uridine is modified to N1-methyl-pseudouridine (m1-psi), the mRNA is not degraded and proteins can be produced. The two were awarded a 2023 Nobel Prize for their findings.
Pfizer and Moderna used this patented technology to ensure that the mRNA vaccines would be able to produce spike protein inside cells.
mRNA vaccines, being one of the cutting-edge new technologies, attracted significant interest and offered a lot of hope. The potential of these vaccines in preventing admission to hospitals and serious illness in people with comorbidities has recently been called into question due to the vaccines’ rapidly waning immunity.
Mounting evidence indicates that these vaccines, like many others, do not generate sterilizing immunity, leaving people vulnerable to recurrent infections. Additionally, it has been discovered that the mRNA vaccines inhibit essential immunological pathways, thus impairing early interferon signaling. Within the framework of COVID-19 vaccination, this inhibition ensures an appropriate spike protein synthesis and a reduced immune activation.
Evidence is provided that adding 100 % of N1-methyl-pseudouridine (m1Ψ) to the mRNA vaccine in a melanoma model stimulated cancer growth and metastasis, while non-modified mRNA vaccines induced opposite results, thus suggesting that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could aid cancer development.
Based on this compelling evidence, we suggest that future clinical trials for cancers or infectious diseases should not use mRNA vaccines with a 100 % m1Ψ modification, but rather ones with the lower percentage of m1Ψ modification to avoid immune suppression.
Modified vs Natural RNA
Modified and natural RNA elicit distinct responses in the body.Modified RNA produces more abnormal proteins, which may contribute to cell genome instability.
Most crucially, modified RNA causes a more subdued reaction in the body than normal RNA, which could have far-reaching consequences for the body’s ability to fight various infections and malignancies.
The authors highlighted research showing that natural RNA increased the action of type-1 interferon, a critical anti-tumor agent, and other immune molecules. Modified RNA, on the other hand, produces a milder response and is linked to immune molecules that enhance tolerance to foreign RNA injections.
An earlier study discovered that RNA containing modified uridine did not activate a pathway important in viral infection detection and cancer treatment.
They also highlighted Ms. Karikó and Dr. Weismann’s research, which discovered that mRNA alteration reduced immune identification and activation of immune cells. The authors contend that this was a double-edged sword due to the far-reaching immunological implications.
Reduce Modified RNA Use
The review authors suggested that mRNA therapeutics should include a “lower percentage” of modified RNA in the future.
They also wrote that they do not discourage the use of mRNA injections in cancer treatment, given that natural or unmodified RNA reduces tumor growth, improves the efficiency of immune responses, and may increase survival.
The authors stated that with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, the scientists “only focused on maximizing the production of the spike protein” without considering other downstream effects.
“We have to do a deep reflection here: if you lower the [percentage] of modification, you have a less effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,” the authors wrote, but at the same time, there may be fewer unintended adverse effects.
