Dr. Sarah Boyd, an infectious disease specialist with Saint Luke's Health System, told KCUR that federal cuts to mRNA research and development could cause a setback in pandemic preparedness.
Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled nearly half a billion dollars in contracts with universities and private companies to develop new uses for mRNA technology. This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted mRNA technology funding, and it could have an impact on the prevention of infectious diseases moving forward.
Dr. Sarah Boyd, an infectious disease specialist at Saint Luke's Health System, told KCUR that mRNA technology is particularly valuable because it can be produced and adjusted much more quickly than other vaccines.
"Our typical, traditional flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs and have to be grown and then, in fact, inactivated and then made into the vaccine to be administered. That can take months. Whereas mRNA vaccines can be quickly adjusted," Boyd said.
"If there's a variant like we saw with COVID-19, they can adjust what that spike protein coding is and quickly make new vaccines. So, they're able to produce many more numbers of vaccine to protect more people quickly."
Boyd also said that, with federal funding going away, research and development of mRNA vaccines will likely be set back slightly.
"There's so much research that goes into being able to confidently then say, 'Yes, this (vaccine) works, this is safe and effective' for whatever virus or other illness that you're potentially studying," Boyd said.
"I think it's important to have that information and to use the science behind that to make the best recommendations."
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