\n<\/p>\n
Academic researchers are worried that the government\u2019s plans to stop investing in the development of messenger RNA vaccines, a technology university scientists first used to help develop the COVID-19 vaccines, will undermine the United States\u2019 standing as a global leader in biomedical research and development. <\/p>\n
As promising as mRNA technology may be for treating a range of maladies, including numerous types of cancer and autoimmune diseases, its role in developing the COVID vaccine has thrust it into a political crossfire, fueled by the Trump administration\u2019s smoldering criticisms of the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the pandemic. <\/p>\n
Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., director of the Department of Health and Human Services, who frequently cites misinformation about vaccines and other public health issues, announced that the department is winding down mRNA vaccine research under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and canceling $500\u00a0million worth of contracts and grants with numerous biotech companies and Emory University in Atlanta. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,\u201d Kennedy, a lawyer by training, said in a statement, claiming that \u201cthe data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We\u2019re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jeff Coller, director of the RNA Innovation Center at Johns Hopkins University, whose own graduate student helped develop Moderna\u2019s COVID vaccine, said that \u201cmRNA technology is incredibly misunderstood by the public and many of our politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite that, \u201cthe science has always been consistently clear about the powerful medical benefits of the mRNA platform,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s saved millions of lives, is incredibly safe, has huge potential and will revolutionize medicine in the next 100 years. Yet, we\u2019re ceding American leadership in this technology.\u201d <\/p>\n
The half-a-billion-dollar cut comes at the same time that the Trump administration has withdrawn support for federally funded scientific research that doesn\u2019t align with its ideological views, including projects focused on vaccine hesitancy, LGBTQ+ health and climate change. <\/p>\n
According to a report from STAT News<\/em>, the 181-page document Kennedy cited as his evidence that mRNA vaccines aren\u2019t safe or effective references disputed studies written by other skeptics of COVID mitigation protocols, including stay-at-home orders and vaccines.<\/p>\n Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, who criticized the NIH\u2019s pandemic guidance in 2020, has also publicly defended the decision on Fox News, Steven Bannon\u2019s podcast War Room<\/em> and in an opinion article he published in The Washington Post<\/em> Tuesday. <\/p>\n In his op-ed, Bhattacharya acknowledged that mRNA is a \u201cpromising technology\u201d that \u201cmay yet deliver breakthroughs in treating diseases such as cancer,\u201d but that \u201cas a vaccine intended for broad public use, especially during a public health emergency, the platform has failed a crucial test: earning public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the Biden administration did not manage public trust in the coronavirus vaccines, largely because it chose a strategy of mandates rather than a risk-based approach and did not properly acknowledge Americans\u2019 growing concerns regarding safety and effectiveness,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n The vast majority of scientists agree that the mRNA-based COVID vaccine\u2014which was created in record time as a result of President Donald Trump\u2019s Operation Warp Speed, launched in 2020\u2014is generally safe and effective. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m concerned about [the cut] weakening our country and putting us at a disadvantage,\u201d said an mRNA researcher who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. \u201cThe promise of mRNA is almost limitless, and I\u2019d like to see those advances being made in this country. But currently it seems those advances are more likely to come from Europe and Asia. I\u2019m also worried about the impact this could have on our economy\u2014this is a growing field of industry.\u201d <\/p>\n Coller, of Johns Hopkins, said Kennedy\u2019s decision to withdraw funding for mRNA vaccine research has more than financial implications. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a political shot across the bow of the entire research community, both in industry and academia,\u201d Coller said. \u201cWhat it says is that the government doesn\u2019t want to support this technology and is going to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen. If you\u2019re an academic thinking about starting a new program in mRNA medicines, don\u2019t waste your time.\u201d<\/p>\n And now it will be even easier for political whims to drive the government\u2019s scientific research priorities. Last week, Trump issued an executive order that will put political appointees\u2014rather than subject-matter experts\u2014in charge of federal grant-making decisions. <\/p>\n Heather Pierce, senior director for science policy and regulatory counsel at the Association of American Medical Colleges, said that while Kennedy\u2019s decision won\u2019t end all of the nation\u2019s mRNA research, \u201cthe indication that a certain technology or scientific area won\u2019t be pursued regardless of the progress made so far is worrisome as a concept.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s in part because \u201cwhen we unilaterally close the door on a specific type of research or technology, we don\u2019t know what would have come from that,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not to say that every research project using every technology and scientific tool will necessarily lead to a cure or breakthrough, but the initial funding of these projects shows that there was promise that made it worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Kennedy and Bhattacharya have said the government will continue to support research on other uses of mRNA technology unrelated to infectious disease vaccines. But experts say separating those research areas isn\u2019t so simple. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re all interconnected,\u201d said Florian Krammer, a professor of vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. \u201cIf you take away funding in the infectious disease space and innovation doesn\u2019t happen there, it\u2019s also not happening in other spaces where mRNA technology is used.\u201d <\/p>\n That will create a \u201chuge problem for researchers,\u201d he added, \u201cbecause a lot of fields are using this technology, and if it\u2019s not moving forward, it closes doors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Academic researchers are worried that the government\u2019s plans to stop investing in the development of messenger RNA vaccines, a technology university scientists first used to help develop the COVID-19 vaccines, will undermine the United States\u2019 standing as a global leader in biomedical research and development. As promising as mRNA technology may be for treating a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[4045,562,5282,3786,3141,2133],"class_list":{"0":"post-16240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-blow","9":"tag-cuts","10":"tag-innovation","11":"tag-mrna","12":"tag-research","13":"tag-vaccine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Political Shot Across the Bow\u2019<\/h2>\n