Ohio State University researchers working on promising COVID-19 vaccine

An experimental vaccine under research at The Ohio State University has shown the potential to be an option moving forward in the quest to stamp out COVID-19.

Researchers have used an engineering technique that allows for manipulation of the messenger RNA, the molecules that carry genetic information, into the COVID-19 causing proteins.

“We hope we can administer a small amount of our engineered messenger RNA and have sufficient immune responses,” said Ohio State University Professor Yizhou Dong, the senior author of the study.

Dong, during previous research at Ohio State, developed nanoparticles, that for use in this study carry messenger RNA, that have subsequently been injected into mice.

The mice ultimately developed antibodies against the proteins that cause COVID-19.

The benefit, according to Dong, is that using a small but powerful amount of engineered messenger RNA will provide a sufficient immune response and at the same time reduce potential side effects.

“By integrating these 2 technologies together that would maximize the immune responses,” Dong told 19 News.

Dong is hopeful that the vaccines currently in trial across the country ultimately prove successful but, if not, believes his research can be a viable option and one he says can be scaled up quickly.