As US regulators restrict Covid mRNA vaccines and as independent vaccine advisers re-examine the shots, scientists fear that an unlikely target could be next: cancer research.<\/p>\n
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines have shown promise in treating and preventing cancers that have often been difficult to address, such as pancreatic cancer, brain tumors and others.<\/p>\n
But groundbreaking research could stall as federal and state officials target mRNA shots<\/a>, including ending federal funding for bird flu mRNA vaccines, restricting who may receive existing mRNA vaccines and, in some places, proposing laws against the vaccines.<\/p>\n The Trump administration<\/a> has also implemented unprecedented cuts to cancer research, among other research cuts and widespread layoffs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).<\/p>\n At least 16 grants involving the word \u201cmRNA\u201d have been terminated or frozen, according to the crowdsourced project Grant Watch<\/a>, and scientists have been told to remove mentions of mRNA vaccines from their research applications, KFF Health News reported<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n Researchers fear that therapeutic cancer vaccines will get \u201cswept up in that tidal wave\u201d against mRNA vaccines, Aaron Sasson, chief of surgical oncology at Stony Brook University, said in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As US regulators restrict Covid mRNA vaccines and as independent vaccine advisers re-examine the shots, scientists fear that an unlikely target could be next: cancer research.<\/p>\n Messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines have shown promise in treating and preventing cancers that have often been difficult to address, such as pancreatic cancer, brain tumors and others.<\/p>\n But groundbreaking research could stall as federal and state officials target mRNA shots<\/a>, including ending federal funding for bird flu mRNA vaccines, restricting who may receive existing mRNA vaccines and, in some places, proposing laws against the vaccines.<\/p>\n