Can the Technology Behind Covid Vaccines Cure Other Diseases?

Now scientists, governments and drugmakers are asking, what else can mRNA do? Many believe that mRNA could serve as the basis for a new generation of vaccines and drugs against a range of other diseases. Efforts in development include cancer therapies tailored to individual patients that can be assembled in a few weeks and HIV vaccines to be given periodically in lieu of current daily pills. Clinical trials for mRNA products are also under way for influenza, and vaccines are in development for malaria, tuberculosis and liver ailments. Questions remain about whether mRNA can be readily applied to other diseases. The technology has been especially effective against Covid-19 for reasons peculiar to the virus. Other diseases pose a series of new challenges, from whether mRNA can get to where it needs to go in the body to how long it needs to remain to be effective.