Beyond the Petri dish: Testing tomorrow's drugs in human blood

The COVID vaccine is perhaps the first thing many people think of when they hear about mRNA-based drugs. Small packages of genetic material are sent into the body, prompting cells to produce useful proteins in the fight against the virus. But the list of diseases that can potentially be treated with mRNA-based drugs is much broader than vaccines. mRNA is expected to be used to treat disorders including cardiovascular diseases, rare hereditary diseases and autoimmune diseases—and not least, cancer.