Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi! I'm a student interested in biochemistry and doing a script about synthetic vaccines. I know that they are supposedly man made proteins to form RNA, but what exactly is the chemistry part about this?

Hello!
It's awesome you are exploring biochemistry and synthetic vaccines! Synthetic vaccines are developed using synthesized peptides or proteins instead of whole pathogens. They offer a more systematic approach to vaccines as they can be designed for specific purposes. One type, peptide synthetic vaccines, works by mimicking the epitope of an antigen (the part of the antigen that gets recognized by the immune system). When the vaccine is administered, the immune system generates antibodies and memory cells to recognize the pathogen in the future.

Another type, synthetic mRNA vaccines, work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein into the body. When the mRNA enters cells, it leads to the production of the viral protein, which leads to an immune response that produces antibodies.

Here are two links to papers about synthetic vaccines and how they work:
https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.2396
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/unders ... avaccines/