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| - Last Updated on March 10, 2022 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
A (2022) research studied effects of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, on the human liver cell line in an artificial environment. The result published in a scientific journal shows that the mRNA Covid vaccine can enter into the cells to make DNA copies through a process called reverse transcriptase. Referring to the study, several social media users have claimed that mRNA Covid vaccines can change DNA. We fact-checked and found the claim to be mostly false.
The Claim
MDPI published a research paper in (2022) titled, “Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line”. The paper was based on another (2021) research published in PNAS journal titled, “Reverse-transcribed SARS-CoV-2 RNA can integrate into the genome of cultured human cells and can be expressed in patient-derived tissues”.
Referring to the MDPI paper, a Facebook user writes, “This should make your blood boil! They knew this to be a bio-weapon. It inhibits DNA damage repair by impeding DNA damage repair proteins at the site. Moderna had patented sequences going back to 2015, which presumes they knew about the DNA damage inhibiting effects. The change to DNA, which mRNA inoculating company said wouldn’t happen, actually occurs in as little as 6 hours after the jab”.
Similar claims are available here, here and here.
Fact Check
How does mRNA vaccine work against Covid virus?
The CDC website has shown that mRNA initiates the formation of spike proteins which are also found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. The immune system recognizes the spike protein as ‘toxic’ and produces antibodies as well as activates other immune cells to kill the toxic protein. In the end, the immune system remembers to kill this toxic protein in the future if the actual Covid-19 virus enters the body.
Can mRNA Covid vaccine change human DNA?
No. The available literature confirms that the mRNA Covid vaccines cannot change human DNA because the mRNA never gets a chance to penetrate the nucleus where DNA lies. The United Nations Organizations have also shed light on this myth in the past and an example of it can be seen in the fact check published by UNICEF.
The MDPI research has been linked with a PNAS study that made a similar claim. Later, another group of researchers proved the PNAS study was flawed as they were unable to draw similar results as stated in the research paper.
Besides this, the MDPI research paper again seems flawed in many ways and is inconsistent with the basic process of gene multiplication. In the research, it is nowhere written that the reverse-transcribed DNA has entered the nucleus to confirm the virus has changed DNA. Moreover, the paper seems to show that the antigen was expressed in the cytoplasm, not in the nucleus. Various studies in the past have shown that it is normal for an antigen to get expressed in the cytoplasm. A scientist further explains more reasons in detail to HealthFeedBack which suggests that both MDPI and PNAS research papers are not credible enough for future references.
Besides this, a science website named Science-BasedMedicine.org has also shown that the sample cells selected in the MDPI study do not represent normal human cells. Moreover, the dose of vaccine used in the MDPI study is very high for human consumption.
A (2021) research has shown that researchers are contemplating if LINE-1, a part of the human genetic structure, can allow viruses like Covid to change DNA. However, there are no confirmatory published results that can prove the same.
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