What is mRNA? What you should know about the key ingredient in some COVID-19 vaccines

Image credit: Pixabay / CC0 Public Domain. Article by Penny Riggs. Originally published by The Conversation – April 9, 2021.

One surprising star of the coronavirus pandemic response has been the molecule called mRNA. It’s the key ingredient in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. But mRNA itself is not a new invention from the lab. It evolved billions of years ago and is naturally found in every cell in your body. Scientists think RNA originated in the earliest life forms, even before DNA existed. […]

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