messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) 信使核糖核酸

messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)
繁：信使核糖核酸
简：信使核糖核酸

今次新冠病毒疫情催生出一系列疫苗技術，先是德國BioNTech/美國輝瑞（Pfizer）和美國莫德納（Moderna）新冠疫苗的「信使核糖核酸」（mRNA）技術，再到強生疫苗所用的「病毒載體」（viral vector）技術。前者突破了科學家多年來一直研究如何利用脂質粒子將合成基因編碼注入細胞的局限，後者利用經過改造的無害病毒（例如可導致一般傷風的腺病毒）將新冠病毒的「刺突蛋白」基因編碼送到人體細胞內（圖），顯示專家終於找到合適的病毒載體執行任務。

強生駕馭病毒載體 疫苗學「黃金時代」（2021 年3月2日）。明報，取自 https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e5%9c%8b%e9%9a%9b/article/20210302/s00014/1614622733996

There are multiple methods – traditional and experimental – for making vaccines, but Moderna and Pfizer use an experimental approach based on something called mRNA (or Messenger ribonucleic acid). The terminology is a mouthful, but it describes a simpler, swifter approach to vaccine production. And it was boosted over the clinical finish line by the pandemic.

Coronavirus: Virus provides leaps in scientific understanding. (2021, January 10). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55565284