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Can mRNA COVID-19 vaccines alter a person’s DNA?
Question:
Can mRNA COVID-19 vaccines alter a person’s DNA?
Answer:
No. In this video, Dr. Paul Offit at the Vaccine Education Center explains how mRNA vaccines are not able to alter a person’s DNA for these three reasons:
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Location – mRNA is active in the cytoplasm of a cell, whereas DNA is protected in the cell’s nucleus. The mRNA CANNOT enter the nucleus, so the two nucleic acids are never in the same place in the cell.
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Process – mRNA is not DNA. So if a person’s DNA were going to be altered, the RNA would have to be made into DNA. This would require a special enzyme that only exists in some viruses. Coronaviruses are not one of them, as they have only single-stranded RNA, which means that when they enter into a cell’s cytoplasm, they don’t need to be translated. Proteins (like the spike protein) can be made directly from the RNA.
- Stability — mRNA is not very stable. Its half-life in human cells is estimated in hours. For purposes of mRNA-based therapies, modifications have been developed to keep the molecule in cells long enough to allow for the therapy to be successful. But even with this, the mRNA will not lead to protein production for more than 10-14 days.
Date last reviewed:
Friday, Nov 19, 2021