The tangled history of mRNA vaccines

The tangled history of mRNA vaccines

Years later, [Robert] Malone followed the Harvard team’s tactics to synthesize mRNA for his experiments. But he added a new kind of liposome, one that carried a positive charge, which enhanced the material’s ability to engage with the negatively charged backbone of mRNA. These liposomes were developed by [Professor] Philip Felgner, a biochemist who now leads the Vaccine Research & Development Center at the University of California, Irvine. … “It’s thrilling for me to see this,” says Felgner. “All of the things that we were thinking would happen back then — it’s happening now.”