copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Nasal swabs used for COVID-19 tests reach the blood-brain barrier and may damage it. (Facebook Users, 2020-07-06)
Evidence (2024-06-04): Does the COVID-19 vaccine cross the blood-brain barrier? It would not be expected that the COVID-19 vaccines would cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for a few reasons.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2023-07-08): Getting COVID-19 carries a greater risk of developing health complications compared to COVID-19 vaccination. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines contain messenger RNA (mRNA) that provides the blueprint for making spike protein. Modified mRNA isn’t intrinsically artificial. Modifications to mRNA also occur naturally in humans and are used to regulate gene expression. Scientists took their cue from nature when modifying COVID-19 vaccine mRNA to improve its stability and efficiency in protein synthesis.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2024-01-01): Traditional vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, teach cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response if someone gets infected. When the vaccine is injected into the upper arm, the mRNA enters cells near the site of the injection and tells the cells to start making the same protein that is found in the COVID-19 virus. The immune system recognizes this protein and begins producing antibodies that can fight the virus if the vaccinated person is later infected. None of the vaccines interact with or alter your DNA in any way, and therefore cannot cause cancer. MRNA is not the same as DNA and cannot be combined with DNA to change your genetic code. The mRNA is fragile and it delivers the instructions to your cells to make antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The mRNA does not enter the nucleus of the cell — the part that contains your DNA. Therefore, there is no truth to the myth that somehow the mRNA vaccine could inactivate the genes that suppress tumors. [...] RNA breaks down easily and quickly unless it is kept at low temperatures. In the body, this isn’t a problem because RNA does not need to exist long in order to carry out its function. But vaccines may need to be kept stable for days or even weeks before they are administered. This has not been nearly as much of a concern with conventional vaccines. Weakened or inactive versions of a virus can remain stable longer without requiring low temperatures.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2022-03-23): Different Types of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines mRNA vaccines can be categorized as non-replicating mRNA, self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) based on their genetic characteristics (Fig. 3).107 Non-replicating mRNA vaccines deliver exclusively genetic information coding for the target antigen, thus containing the 5′-cap, 5′ untranslated region (UTR), 3′ UTR, and 3′-poly(A) tail regions.108 saRNA vaccines can deliver genetic information encoding the target antigen and other genes, e.g., viral RNA polymerase, to enable mRNA to self-replicate.109,110 Based on saRNA technology, safe trans-amplifying RNA (taRNA) vaccines have been optimized and developed.111 In addition, circRNA has recently been developed for COVID-19 mRNA vaccines due to its natural high stability.112 Most COVID-19 mRNA vaccines currently in clinical trials or those already on the market are non-replicating mRNA vaccines. The advantages of non-replicating mRNA vaccines include the use of an RNA molecule of simple structure and shorter length. An optimized or modified mRNA can have greatly enhanced biological activity. Lastly, saRNA vaccines are currently in preclinical and clinical trials. [...] Walsh, E. E. et al. RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 selected for a pivotal efficacy study. Medrxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.17.20176651 (2020). [...] Mulligan, M. J. et al. Phase I/II study of COVID-19 RNA vaccine BNT162b1 in adults. Nature586, 589–593 (2020).
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-06-01): The messenger RNA, or mRNA, platform may be new to the global public, but it’s a technology that researchers had been betting on for decades. Now those bets are paying off, and not just by turning back a pandemic that killed millions in just a year. [...] The story of mRNA vaccines dates back to the early 1990s, when Hungarian-born researcher Katalin Kariko of the University of Pennsylvania started testing mRNA technology as a form of gene therapy. The idea is similar whether scientists want to use the mRNA moleculeto cure disease or prevent it; send instructions to the cells of the body to make something specific. Researchers like to use a cookbook analogy. The body’s DNA is the cookbook. Messenger RNA is a copy of the recipe – one that disappears quickly. In the case of genetic disease, it can be used to instruct cells to make a healthy copy of a protein. In the case of mRNA vaccines, it’s used to tell cells to make what looks like a piece of virus, so the body produces antibodies and special immune system cells in response.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-01-11): When the COVID-19 pandemic hit a year ago, two innovative young pharmaceutical companies decided to try to harness this role played by messenger RNA: the German company BioNTech, which formed a partnership with the U.S. company Pfizer; and Moderna, based in Cambridge, Mass. Their mission was to engineer messenger RNA carrying the code letters to make part of the coronavirus spike protein—a string that begins CCUCGGCGGGCA … —and to deploy it in human cells. [...] An mRNA vaccine has certain advantages over a DNA vaccine, which has to use a re-engineered virus or other delivery mechanism to make it through the membrane that protects the nucleus of a cell. The RNA does not need to get into the nucleus. It simply needs to be delivered into the more-accessible outer region of cells, the cytoplasm, which is where proteins are constructed. [...] The ability to code messenger RNA to do our bidding will transform medicine. As with the COVID vaccines, we can instruct mRNA to cause our cells to make antigens—molecules that stimulate our immune system—that could protect us against many viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens that cause infectious disease. In addition, mRNA could in the future be used, as BioNTech and Moderna are pioneering, to fight cancer. Harnessing a process called immunotherapy, the mRNA can be coded to produce molecules that will cause the body’s immune system to identify and kill cancer cells.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-01-12): How COVID unlocked the power of RNA vaccines [...] Vaccine manufacturing facilities have had to rapidly ramp up their capabilities to produce RNA vaccines. Credit: Olivier Maire/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-05-19): Messenger RNA-based vaccines: Past, present, and future directions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic - PMID: 34637846 - PMCID: PMC8502079 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.114000 Messenger RNA-based vaccines: Past, present, and future directions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic Corrigendum to "Messenger RNA-based vaccines: Past, present, and future directions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic" [Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 179 (2021) 114000].Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022 Oct;189:114501. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2022.114501. Epub 2022 Aug 26. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022. PMID: 36031502 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2023-10-03): NEWS EXPLAINER 03 October 2023 mRNA COVID vaccines saved lives and won a Nobel — what’s next for the technology? [...] Pioneers of mRNA COVID vaccines win medicine Nobel [...] How COVID unlocked the power of RNA vaccines
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2024-01-01): Covid-19 RNA vaccine, illustration. The vaccine consists of strands of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) encased in a lipid nanoparticle sphere (red) surrounded by a polyethylene glycol coat (violet). The mRNA codes for a mutated version of the viral spike protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid-19. When injected into the body the mRNA is taken up by the body's cells, which manufacture copies of the protein. The proteins stimulate an immune response, causing the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein. This means that the body is primed to attack the virus should it be encountered after vaccination, preventing disease. The first RNA vaccine approved for human use, developed against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, was approved in the UK on 2nd December 2020.Credit: Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/ Getty Images The messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that helped control the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t come out of nowhere. For decades after mRNA was first isolated in the 1960s, scientists worked to understand how it might help fight disease — using the body’s instruction manual to replace defective proteins or produce new, helpful ones. [...] Using mRNA, or any nucleic acid, as a drug requires overcoming several hurdles. First, it is easily degraded in the body. If RNA is simply injected into a person, it is quickly broken down before it can get into cells to create proteins. It needs some kind of delivery system.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2022-11-21): RNA vaccines rose to prominence during COVID, but we've only scratched the surface of their potential [...] Vaccines that contain messenger RNA, or mRNA, have been studied for decades, but the release of them during the COVID-19 pandemic was the first of its kind. Both Pfizer and Moderna developed mRNA vaccines that work by delivering a blueprint to the body in the form of genetic material — which the body then uses to build proteins and mount an immune defence.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-08-30): Key Points - mRNA vaccines inject cells with instructions to generate a protein that is normally found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. [...] - mRNA vaccines are safe and cannot alter your DNA, and you cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine. [...] Yes. The FDA approval process involves careful review of clinical trial data to independently confirm that a vaccine is safe and effective. Two mRNA vaccines have been tested in large-scale clinical trials that included elderly and medically at-risk individuals; 30% of participants in these trials were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Both vaccines have reported to result in a range of minor side effects, such as flu-like symptoms, that resolve within one or two days. mRNA vaccines do not contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so you cannot get COVID-19 from an mRNA vaccine.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2020-12-11): Both vaccines are made from messenger RNA, the molecule that cells naturally use to carry DNA’s instructions to cells’ protein-building machinery. A vaccine based on mRNA has never been approved by the FDA before. However, many years of research have gone into RNA vaccines, which is one reason why scientists were able to start testing such vaccines against Covid-19 so quickly. Once the viral sequences were revealed in January, it took just days for pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech, to generate mRNA vaccine candidates. [...] In subsequent years, Langer, Anderson, and others have developed fatty molecules called lipid nanoparticles that are also very effective at delivering nucleic acids. These carriers protect RNA from being broken down in the body and help to ferry it through cell membranes. Both the Moderna and Pfizer RNA vaccines are carried by lipid nanoparticles with PEG. [...] One drawback to mRNA vaccines is that they can break down at high temperatures, which is why the current vaccines are stored at such cold temperatures. Pfizer’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), and the Moderna vaccine at -20 C (-4 F). One way to make RNA vaccines more stable, Anderson points out, is to add stabilizers and remove water from the vaccine through a process called lyophilization, which has been shown to allow some mRNA vaccines to be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2024-09-27): COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need to Know [...] What is the COVID-19 vaccine? [...] COVID-19 vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safe and recommended for people who are pregnant or lactating, as well as for those who are intending to become pregnant.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2020-11-10): The problem, she knew, was that synthetic RNA was notoriously vulnerable to the body’s natural defenses, meaning it would likely be destroyed before reaching its target cells. And, worse, the resulting biological havoc might stir up an immune response that could make the therapy a health risk for some patients. [...] After isolating the virus from patients, Chinese scientists on Jan. 10 posted online its genetic sequence. Because companies that work with messenger RNA don’t need the virus itself to create a vaccine, just a computer that tells scientists what chemicals to put together and in what order, researchers at Moderna, BioNTech, and other companies got to work. [...] Several other drug makers have also developed experimental mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus, but are not as far along, including CureVac, another German biotech, and Translate Bio, which has partnered with the French vaccine giant Sanofi Pasteur.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2023-10-02): Once a virus is inside our cells, it releases its own RNA, tricking our hijacked cells into spewing out copies of the virus – in the form of viral proteins – that compromise our immune system. Traditional vaccines work by injecting inactivated virus proteins called antigens, which stimulate the body's immune system to recognise the virus when it reappears. The genius of mRNA vaccines is there's no need to inject the antigen itself. Instead, these vaccines use the genetic sequence or "code" of the antigen translated into mRNA. It's a ghost of the real thing, fooling the body into creating very real antibodies. The artificial mRNA itself then disappears, degraded by the body's natural defences including enzymes that break it down, leaving us with only the antibodies. [...] Yizhou Dong, associate professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacology Ohio State University, specialises in little balls of fat, or lipids, needed to house the mRNA and safely deliver it to the cells without being immediately destroyed by our body. Lipids have been described as the "unsung hero" – without lipid delivery being finally perfected and approved in 2018, there would have been no Covid-19 mRNA vaccines by 2020. Before Covid-19, there were many research studies looking at broader applications of combining this new lipid delivery technique with mRNA Dong says, including genetic disorders, cancer immunotherapy, infectious diseases and bacterial infections. "As long as you have the antigen and can sequence the protein, theoretically it should work".
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-08-23): Comirnaty contains messenger RNA (mRNA), a kind of genetic material. The mRNA is used by the body to make a mimic of one of the proteins in the virus that causes COVID-19. The result of a person receiving this vaccine is that their immune system will ultimately react defensively to the virus that causes COVID-19. The mRNA in Comirnaty is only present in the body for a short time and is not incorporated into - nor does it alter - an individual’s genetic material. Comirnaty has the same formulation as the EUA vaccine and is administered as a series of two doses, three weeks apart. [...] The first EUA, issued Dec. 11, for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older was based on safety and effectiveness data from a randomized, controlled, blinded ongoing clinical trial of thousands of individuals. [...] Based on results from the clinical trial, the vaccine was 91% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2017-11-22): Several studies have shown that messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines do not cause complications in pregnancy, either for expectant mothers or their babies. [...] Like all mRNA molecules, the mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccines is broken down by cell mechanisms and so spends a relatively short time in the body. [...] The companies marketing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are carrying out more animal and laboratorystudies to obtain additional data on how mRNA and the spike protein are distributed and broken down in the body. They will submit the results to EMA for assessment.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2020-12-10): Messenger RNA and viral vectors are the new platforms at work in the COVID-19 vaccines likely to be authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on the messenger RNA, or mRNA, platform. Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó — now a senior executive with BioNTech, Pfizer’s partner on the COVID-19 vaccine — started developing mRNA therapies in 1990 while a professor at University of Pennsylvania Medical School. [...] In the COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA platform delivers genetic information that tells cells to make spike protein, named for the spikes on the surface of the coronavirus. Production of this protein stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies to combat coronavirus, just as it would in the case of actual infection.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-09-14): Hundreds of scientists had worked on mRNA vaccines for decades before the coronavirus pandemic brought a breakthrough. [...] How COVID unlocked the power of RNA vaccines [...] CureVac COVID vaccine let-down spotlights mRNA design challenges
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2024-09-07): No. Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines only give your cells instructions for how to make a protein. Those instructions, called messenger RNA or mRNA, are for a protein on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. The Novavax vaccine takes a different approach. It contains one protein from the virus and another ingredient that boosts your immune system's response to the viral protein. [...] No. COVID-19 vaccines are made only with ingredients that help the body recognize and clear out the virus that causes COVID-19. It is a myth that COVID-19 vaccines have microchips that track your location or movement. [...] Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines only give your cells instructions for how to make a protein found on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. Those instructions, called messenger RNA or mRNA, allow your muscle cells to make the protein pieces and display them on cell surfaces. This causes your body to make antibodies.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2024-01-18): The breakthrough, in a nutshell and expanded upon below: Scientists had long experimented with creating vaccines that employ RNA (ribonucleic acid) to make proteins to fight viral infections, as opposed to the standard process of creating vaccines with snippets of a virus (usually inactive or attenuated) in order to help the body subsequently recognize that virus and fight it off. The form of RNA used in the COVID-19 vaccines (called messenger RNA, or mRNA) delivers instructions for the body to make proteins. The benefit: It’s faster, easier, and less expensive to create a vaccine using RNA. The problem: It was difficult to get RNA into a cell, RNA caused severe inflammation, and low levels of protein were made because the body saw it as an alien substance and attacked it. Weissman and Karikó used synthetic RNA that the body’s immune system doesn’t recognize, and encased the RNA in lipid nanoparticles (fat bubbles) that easily slip into cells. [...] You’ve said that research on the potential of using RNA in vaccines was growing before COVID-19. [By 2017, according to an analysis in Nature, human trials were underway to test mRNA vaccines against HIV, influenza, Zika, and rabies.] Then came the pandemic. The urgency to combat the disease drove governments, foundations, and corporations to pour money into experimental vaccine research and development, including RNA.
Claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body (Klaus Steger, 2023-07-08)
Evidence (2021-11-18): Weissman was especially intrigued by a single-stranded molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA, which brings our cells the DNA blueprint for making proteins so that the body can function. If we could manipulate those instructions, could mRNA be harnessed to create an entirely new kind of vaccine—one that could generate immunity without ever bringing a pathogen into the body? [...] From the start, Weissman and Karikó believed mRNA was the key to unlocking a new generation of vaccines and therapeutics. Theoretically, it could instruct any cell in the body to make any desired set of proteins. But practically, there were many obstacles. Synthetic mRNA was notoriously unstable and tended to break down before it could do its job. The closest attempt came in 1990 when researchers from the University of Wisconsin showed that injected mRNA could generate proteins in mice. Many scientists, however, were skeptical that this process could be replicated in humans. [...] The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines deployed the same clever mechanism. A shot of specially coded mRNA would instruct certain cells to manufacture the notorious COVID-19 spike protein, enabling the cells to briefly masquerade as the virus and teach the immune system to recognize it. Within weeks of injection, the mRNA would break down naturally without a trace, leaving in its wake a powerful immunity against the coronavirus.