Health · Medical Research · 5 hrs ago
Study Tracks How Three mRNA Vaccines Break Down in the Blood
Researchers compared how three mRNA vaccines behave in the blood using samples from 73 people who had received them.
The vaccines included those made by Moderna and Pfizer, as well as a newer vaccine that carries instructions for parts of a viral protein.
The team analyzed more than 300 blood samples to track vaccine mRNA and its lipid packaging, which carries the genetic instructions into cells.
The mRNA from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines mostly broke into fragments, and the researchers identified where some of that damage occurred.
The vaccines differed in how quickly their mRNA and lipid components declined, and how long parts of the mRNA stayed intact.
Understanding these differences could help researchers design more stable vaccines, potentially improving their performance and reducing side effects.
mRNA vaccines are also being tested as cancer treatments that aim to train a patient’s immune system to target cancer cells, and the findings may help guide that work.
Researchers studied blood samples from 73 people to compare how three mRNA vaccines persist and break down in the bloodstream.
The study examined vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and a newly tested vaccine that codes for parts of a viral protein.
The researchers analyzed more than 300 blood samples, measuring mRNA, its integrity and the lipid packaging that carries it.
The findings could help guide the design of future vaccines and cancer therapies, and may help improve vaccine stability and efficiency.
The study was published in ACS Nano.
- Who
- Researchers from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.
- What
- They studied how three mRNA vaccines distribute, persist and degrade in the blood.
- When
- Published on October 16, 2026. When the blood samples were collected is not stated.
- Where
- The study analyzed blood samples from participants; their location is not stated.
- Why
- To better understand how mRNA vaccines behave in the body and inform future vaccine and cancer therapy design.
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- Participants
- 73
- Blood samples
- More than 300
- Vaccines studied
- Moderna, Pfizer and a newly tested mRNA vaccine
- Publication
- ACS Nano
- Researchers
- Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
What people are saying
mRNA vaccines do not all behave the same way in the bloodstream