mRNA Vaccine

In News: The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has established the “proof of principle” (proof of concept) of the first indigenous mRNA vaccine technology

• The replication is based on the Moderna model, but has been built with the information available in the open and our own technology and materials
• While vaccines work by training the immune system to identify disease-causing micro-organisms and eliminate them quickly when they encounter them, in the mRNA technology, the host cell’s immune system is trained to evade the real infection.
• This is done by introducing mRNA of the micro-organism of concern into the host.
• The home-grown mRNA vaccine platform holds promise to deal with other infectious diseases such as TB, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, rare genetic diseases and others.

What are mRNA vaccines?

• mRNA vaccines trick the body into producing some of the viral proteins itself.
• They work by using mRNA, or messenger RNA, which is the molecule that essentially puts DNA instructions into action.
• Inside a cell, mRNA is used as a template to build a protein

How it works?

• To produce an mRNA vaccine, scientists produce a synthetic version of the mRNA that a virus uses to build its infectious proteins.
• This mRNA is delivered into the human body, whose cells read it as instructions to build that viral protein, and therefore create some of the virus’s molecules themselves.
• These proteins are solitary, so they do not assemble to form a virus.
• The immune system then detects these viral proteins and starts to produce a defensive response to them.

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

• The Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) is a premier research organization which conducts high quality basic research and trainings in frontier areas of modern biology, and promotes centralized national facilities for new and modern techniques in the interdisciplinary areas of biology.
• It was set up initially as a semi-autonomous Centre on April 1, 1977 with the Biochemistry Division of the then Regional Research Laboratory (presently, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, IICT) Hyderabad.
• It is located in Hyderabad and operates under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• It is designated as “Center of Excellence” by the Global Molecular and Cell Biology Network, UNESCO.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) With reference to recent developments regarding ‘Recombinant Vector Vaccines’, consider the following statements: (2021)

1. Genetic engineering is applied in the development of these vaccines.
2. Bacteria and viruses are used as vectors.

Select the correct code:

1. 1 Only
2. 2 Only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q.2) What is the importance of using Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in India? (2020)

1. These vaccines are effective against pneumonia as well as meningitis and sepsis.
2. Dependence on antibiotics that are not effective against drug-resistant bacteria can be reduced.
3. These vaccines have no side effects and cause no allergic reactions.

Select the correct code:

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Source: The Hindu