Top 3 Reasons Why the mRNAs from COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Vaccines Won't Interfere with Your DNA

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines that leverage the mRNAs to induce our immune responses. These mRNAs instruct our cells to make the viral spike proteins, which then serve as antigens against which our body makes antibodies that can block the virus from invading, and thus, generate protection against the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

We have received multiple queries regarding whether the mRNAs can mess up our DNA by reverting to a DNA, followed by insertion into our genome. Lately, this has become quite a heated topic in social and news media.

This article breaks down the reasons why the mRNAs from the vaccines won't mess up or insert into your DNA.

mRNAs from the COVID-19 vaccines work in a completely different location than where our DNA is compartmentalized within our cells

Our DNA is located in a separate cellular compartment within our cells called the nucleus. The nucleus is surrounded by a double-membrane that controls what can go in and out of the nucleus. For example, the double-membrane allows the mRNAs made in our nucleus to leave but doesn't allow them to re-enter the nucleus once they are outside (in a compartment called the cytosol).

At the nuclear membrane, energy is spent to selectively shuttle our cellular mRNAs out into the cytosol where they can be used as a template to make proteins we need. mRNAs from the COVID-19 vaccines are dumped in the cytosol compartment, where it is processed to make the viral spike proteins, which then ignite our immune system. There is no mechanism by which these mRNA can enter the cellular compartment where DNA is housed, the nucleus. Furthermore, you can imagine that it will cost extra energy to transport mRNAs into the nucleus, and there are no biological or evolutionary advantages for the cells to spend this extra energy to transport these molecules into the nucleus. So essentially, that which is separated by compartment can't interact with one another, much less get integrated into one another.

mRNAs, in general, are very unstable and rapidly degraded within a few hours

RNAs are inherently unstable. Once the mRNAs from the vaccines are injected into the cytosol compartment of our cells, they are naked and exposed to agents that destroy them in a matter of hours, at the most.

Back in my Ph.D. days, I remember taking rigorous precautionary steps when preparing RNAs in the lab. Maintaining RNA integrity is critical and requires taking special measures during experimentation. Agents that degrade RNAs are ubiquitous, they are everywhere. For example, enzymes that degrade RNAs, called RNases, are even sitting on our hands right now. I remember using clean gloves, certain aerosol-barrier lab equipment freshly sterilized labware and reagents, and a pristine, decontaminated lab bench to prevent RNA degradation. Let your guard down, could be back to square one—go back and remake your RNA. It is just a tedious process, to say the least, just because the RNAs are so unstable.

One would think that the mRNA molecules need to be intact long enough for them to convert to a DNA and then integrate into our own DNA. As a matter of fact, because mRNAs degrade so rapidly, public health officials and vaccine makers were concerned about the logistics of distributing the vaccines. To keep the mRNAs stable, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines must be kept at an ultra-cold temperature of -70°C and the Modena vaccine is stored in a standard -20°C freezer for 6 months and in refrigeration (2-8°C) for up to 30 days.

Even if the mRNAs from the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines "magically" end up where our DNA is located, it would lack a very specific primer needed to revert to become a DNA to be able to integrate into our genetic materials

For an mRNA to mess up our DNA, it has to first convert to a DNA molecule, then insert itself into our DNA. Typically, DNA transmits its message into messenger-RNA or mRNA through a process called transcription. Now, can an m-RNA ever go backward to revert to a DNA? It is less common, but it can happen through a process called reverse transcription. However, this process happens only in the genetic center of our cell, called the nucleus, and this occurs only in the presence of a special protein or enzyme (called reverse transcriptase) and a primer to initiate reverse transcription.

In reason #1, I have already made a case establishing that these mRNAs do not go into the nucleus. For the sake of argument, let's just say that somehow the mRNAs from the COVID-19 vaccines enter the nucleus of a person living with HIV. Why pick a person with HIV? HIV is one of the viruses that come with the reverse transcriptase enzyme to be able to infect and thrive in human cells. Without reverse transcriptase, the HIV genome would not get incorporated into our cells, resulting in the failure of the virus to replicate and propagate through progeny viruses.

I have already mentioned that reverse transcriptase can make DNA from RNA. But, even in this scenario where the mRNAs from the vaccines may "magically" manage to translocate to the nucleus where HIV reverse transcriptase is available, our knowledge of how cell biology works don't support this notion of converting the mRNA into a DNA. Reverse transcriptase enzymes are not able to pick up any random mRNA and generate DNA from it. For this, they will require a specific RNA sequence that can prime the DNA synthesis reaction. This primer is a short sequence that is complementary to the sequences on the mRNA and serves as a starting point to create a copy of the DNA. And if no DNA is created from these mRNAs, they simply can't integrate into our DNA.

Experts and advocates have reassured that people living with HIV can safely get coronavirus vaccines.

Textbook Reference:
Flint SJ, Enquist LW, Racaniello VR, Skalka AM. Principles of Virology: Molecular Biology, Pathogenesis, and Control of Animal Viruses. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 2004

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VaxTherapy is NOT affiliated with any of the pharma/biotech companies working on COVID-19 vaccines. The purpose of this post is to provide education and awareness from a virologist’s independent perspective based on available facts and data.

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