The cause and circumstances are anything but pleasant, but for now it is the number one topic: vaccination. For many, vaccination against the Corona-Virus is the savior, whereas others vehemently reject it. It’s time to take a closer look at what actually happens when vaccination is administered.
Active or passive
We all know that vaccination involves administering a vaccine with the aim of protecting against a (transmissible) disease. The purpose is to activate the body’s immune system against specific substances.
There are 2 types of vaccination: active and passive.
Active vaccination (active immunization)
This involves injecting a part of a living pathogen or an inactivated pathogen into the body to prevent a disease, since the body then produces defense cells “on its own”. To ensure that this information remains in the defense cells for the purpose of defending against further attacks, vaccination is administered twice.
Passive vaccination (passive immunization)
In this case, the antibodies already exist! These are injected into a person already ill for curing, basically the person’s immune system does not have to take any action at all. The downside of this vaccination is that it only lasts for a short time. This is obvious: The cells are not stimulated to act on their own initiative, but receive support “from the outside” and can lean back comfortably for the time being.
mRNA vaccines …..
…… contain the mRNA segments (blueprints) for individual components (proteins) of the pathogen. These enter the body cell through vaccination and are then used to produce the proteins of the pathogen*. However, the mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus itself, as it lacks the necessary information to do so (the cell’s own DNA remains unaffected). The body reacts to the produced proteins with an immune response*. The mRNA is degraded again by the cell over time.
Not so easy for a non-scientist, but always exciting. Natural sciences are also an important part of the research work at LTS. Feel free to learn more here.
P.S.: We will soon publish another article on the subject of vaccination, which will be written by one of our experts and will explore deeper into science.?
[*] „Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung,“ 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.bmbf.de/de/das-sollten-sie-ueber-impfstoffe-wissen-12724.html. [Last access on 22 December 2020].
Image: LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme AG
