A computational biologist's personal views on new technologies & publications on genomics & proteomics and their impact on drug discovery
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Thoughts on Unexpected Sequences Found In COVID mRNA Vaccines
Writing this piece is not easy, not only because the topic matter is completely in controversies around SARS-CoV-2 and the vaccines for it, but because the data was generated by someone whose outspoken opinions on any COVID-19 public health topic are nearly always ones I find myself in opposition to. Someone who periodically lobs my way personal attacks on my ethics. It doesn't help that these results will be certainly misused to attempt to undermine public confidence in the vaccines, or that this post will probably attract a lot of commentary that I don't wish to address because of the adage that generating misinformation takes far less energy than rationally correcting it. But, data is data and in the end I believe that whatever our differences, the data generator is not someone who would construct a hoax. And in any case, the results can be checked, so if somehow it were a vicious hoax that could be exposed. And importantly, I feel that what has been found should be discussed, as no advanced technology is ever perfect - these results I feel suggest new standards for the design and implementation of mRNA therapeutics.