"The rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines seemed to validate his claim: emergency conditions sped up trials, relaxed regulatory sequencing and encouraged scientists to share findings before peer review. Out of that sprang one of the great scientific success stories of our age: mRNA vaccines. These use synthetic genetic code to train the immune system to defend itself against viruses. Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman, whose work enabled the mRNA Covid vaccine, went on to win the Nobel prize."
"Until very recently, the US, which put more than $10bn into mRNA development, appeared primed to reap the scientific and commercial rewards. Despite the deregulatory zeal that birthed mRNA, the second Trump administration has rejected it. Instead, it has been remarkably steady in its commitment to the radical anti-science and anti-vaccine agenda of the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr."
"He has spent the past year undermining and outright sabotaging the US's own success. Over the summer, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced a coordinated wind-down of federal funding for mRNA research, cancelling an additional $500m in funding for 22 projects. These cuts will be devastating. Developing safe novel therapies depends on long timelines, steady funding and despite Braben's thesis predictable regulation."
Freedom from short-term pressure and rigid peer review has been credited with enabling twentieth-century scientific breakthroughs. Emergency conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated trials, loosened regulatory sequencing and encouraged pre-review data sharing, enabling rapid development of mRNA vaccines. Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel prize for work that enabled the mRNA Covid vaccine. Extensive scientific and logistic infrastructure is now redirecting mRNA technology toward flu, HIV and cancer. The US invested more than $10bn and seemed poised to benefit. The second Trump administration cut support; HHS cancelled $500m for 22 projects, threatening long timelines, steady funding and predictable regulation required for novel therapies.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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