ellis123 posted... We could talk about current events. Like, a recent study came up with a new vaccine that is universal (ie. works on all strains) and is usable in immunocompromised individuals: https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/04/15/vaccine-breakthrough-means-no-more-chasing-strains
Like, that is about as "of the future" you can get for vaccines and is one of the greatest inventions of all time if it works in humans.
Okay, that sounds great the way they hype it up... but I had a couple concerns reading that, and they revolve around this (shamelessly stolen from wikipedia as I switched from genetics a long time ago):
On the size of their produced strands:
"Bioinformatics studies on the genomes of multiple organisms suggest this length maximizes target-gene specificity and minimizes non-specific effects."
On what RNAi can do at broad spectrum/large amounts:
"RNAi may be used for large-scale screens that systematically shut down each gene (and the subsequent proteins it codes for) in the cell, which can help to identify the components necessary for a particular cellular process or an event such as cell division."
The process by which it works and how far reaching the systems are:
"Transcription can be inhibited via the pre-transcriptional silencing mechanism of RNAi, through which an enzyme complex catalyzes DNA methylation at genomic positions complementary to complexed siRNA or miRNA. RNAi has an important role in defending cells against parasitic nucleotide sequences (e.g., viruses or transposons) and also influences development of organisms."
tidbits:
In some organisms, this process spreads systemically, despite the initially limited molar concentrations of siRNA.[3]
Historically, RNAi was known by other names, including co-suppression, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), and quelling. The detailed study of each of these seemingly different processes elucidated that the identity of these phenomena were all actually RNAi.
I think I would be more comfortable with the process if the vector wasn't via live viral infection of the host. I don't have perfect faith that our little viral factories are that mutation proof.