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Comment and Health

Why it would be utter madness to stop funding mRNA vaccine technology

It's not a just a revolutionary and safe vaccine technology – mRNA could help make the best and most expensive drugs in the world affordable for everyone

By Michael Le Page

21 March 2025

Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine uses mRNA technology

Imago/Alamy

This week, researchers in the US were told to remove all references to mRNA vaccine technology from their grant applications to the National Institutes of Health. It is thought this move could be a precursor to a halt in US government funding of this kind of biomedical research, which could have a wider chilling effect on research into this promising area.

That would be a massive misstep, for not only are mRNA vaccines proving their worth for treating…

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