Recently, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) has declared a successful ‘proof of principle’ of the first indigenous Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology. This innovative technology distinguishes itself from the mRNA vaccine pursued by Gennova Bio, which is based on self-replicating RNA. As per research, this technology is primed for transfer to any interested businesses for further development, including conducting human trials and obtaining regulatory authorization to bring the vaccine to market.
The Significance of Proof of Principle
Proof of Principle, also known as Proof of Concept, is a crucial milestone in scientific research. It involves demonstrating the feasibility of a proposed method or theory through a working model or prototype, effectively verifying its practical potential.
The Make-up of mRNA Vaccine Technology
mRNA vaccines leverage mRNA to instruct our cells on synthesizing a protein, or an analogous version of it, that incites an immune response within our bodies. This spurred immune reaction, characterized by antibody production, serves to protect us from subsequent infections if the actual virus invades our bodies. The CSIR-CCMB team developed a potential mRNA vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, modeled on Moderna but constructed with openly available data and indigenous resources.
Efficacy of the Indigenous mRNA Vaccine
Upon administering two doses of the mRNA vaccine, a “robust immune response” was observed against the Covid-19 spike protein in mice. The produced anti-spike antibodies demonstrated over 90% effectiveness in thwarting the binding of the human ACE2 receptor to the coronavirus. This receptor serves as the entry point for the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 viruses to latch onto and subsequently infect a variety of human cells.
Implications for Future Disease Control
The indigenous mRNA vaccine platform shows immense potential in combating other infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Dengue fever, Malaria, Chickungunya, and Rare Genetic diseases. The vaccines formulated with this technology can potentially cover multiple Covid-19 variants and could also be designed to combat other diseases.
Contrasting Indigenous and Global Vaccines
There are numerous vaccines developed both globally and indigenously. For instance, Zydus’s ZyCoV-D and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are indigenous efforts, while Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V are globally developed.
Comparison of mRNA Vaccines with Traditional Vaccines
Traditional vaccines stimulate an immune response by introducing small or inactivated doses of disease-causing organisms or their proteins into our bodies. In contrast, mRNA vaccines trick our bodies into producing some viral proteins independently, using mRNA to convey DNA instructions into actions within a cell.
Benefits of mRNA-Based Vaccines
mRNA vaccines are regarded as safe since mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating, and it degrades via standard cellular mechanisms. They exhibit high efficacy owing to their inherent capability to translate into protein structures within cell cytoplasm. Moreover, since mRNA vaccines are fully synthetic and don’t require a host for growth, they can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively, thus ensuring widespread availability and accessibility.