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When President Trump launched Operation Warp Speed in 2020, he called the resulting COVID-19 vaccines "one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history." Nearly six years later, his own administration is reducing or reevaluating funding for some research involving the same technology he championed.
In this episode of Petrie Dish, we explore what mRNA technology actually is, where it came from, and what's at stake as regulatory uncertainty rattles researchers across the country.
mRNA vaccines work by delivering temporary instructions that teach your cells to recognize a virus, then disappear. They don't alter your DNA. They never even enter the part of the cell where DNA lives. And the COVID vaccines generated more safety and efficacy data than any vaccine in history.
But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled $500 million in mRNA research funding, and, during one of the deadliest flu seasons in recent memory, the FDA briefly refused to review Moderna's application for an mRNA flu shot.
The fallout extends well beyond vaccines. At UT Health San Antonio, Dr. Hye Young Lee is using mRNA technology to develop potential treatments for Fragile X syndrome, the most common single-gene cause of autism — a condition with no treatment today. At Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Dr. Larry Schlesinger warns that an unstable regulatory environment threatens the next generation of scientists working on cancer, autoimmune disease, and rare genetic disorders.
The technology that was credited with saving millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic is now caught in shifting political winds. What is at risk while Washington figures out where it stands?
Guests
Dr. Larry Schlesinger: President and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Schlesinger is a scientist, a medical doctor, and a professor at Texas Biomed. He is also an internationally recognized authority in infectious diseases with a particular interest in tuberculosis and lung biology.
Dr. Hye Young Lee: UT Health San Antonio neuroscientist whose research focus is on studying the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fragile X syndrome, the most common single-gene cause of autism, is the current focus of the Lee Lab. Researchers are trying to develop gene therapy for fragile X using mRNA technology.
