Moderna mRNA sequence released to GitHub [pdf]

Post by flobosg » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 9:26 AM UTC

WJW wrote: post #281

baby wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My thought exactly. So this thing is like a VM with a bunch of primitive opcode, why can’t someone write a higher-level language or at least some gadgets

The problem with trying to program genetics is that there is a bunch of code already running on the system and every variable is a global . You can't just start up a new program with minimal impact on the stuff that is already running, like you can in most human-made computers. Also don't forget that the extremely simplified version of the running system looks like this: https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical-documen…

Post by learnstats2 » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 9:41 AM UTC

drtz wrote: post #31

I'm sure it's more complex than I grasp as a layperson, but I'm utterly amazed at how simple this _appears_. I get the feeling that this is something I have a better chance of understanding than the average SaaS Terms and Conditions. I expected to have to scroll through pages upon pages of indecipherable text. Instead it's no bigger than a large paragraph of text, and I can easily fit it on my screen.

Post by shellfishgene » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 9:52 AM UTC

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #226

azernik wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The protein they're trying to manufacture is indeed quite simple - AFAIU both BioNTech and Moderna put together their sequences in a weekend. (Though there was a more involved process of winnowing down the sequences for the most effective ones.) The technically challenging parts are: - delivery mechanism: you need to take a very unstable molecule, protect it from the environment - both external, and when inside the p…

> but testing the thing for safety and efficacy took months What kind of tweaks were made from "the version they threw together in a weekend" to "the version that is in production now"? What's a typical "mRNA" feedback iteration loop like?

Post by ssener2001 » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 9:57 AM UTC

nielsbot wrote: post #236

jcims wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great animation of the life cycle of an HIV virus. It’s not exactly what happens with the pandemic virus but it gives you a good idea of the complexity of the process of viral reproduction (vaccine or immune response isn’t covered here): https://vimeo.com/260291607 Animation of transcription from mRNA: https://youtu.be/TfYf_rPWUdY

It blows my mind to see how life (and death) work at the molecular level--it's almost like some kind of manmade machine, but far more subtle and complex.

Post by jonplackett » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 10:01 AM UTC

shellfishgene wrote: post #286

ImaCake wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A given combination of 7 bases has a probability of occurring of 1/16,384. Since the COVID genome is about 22k bases long I guess you have pretty good chance of it appearing in there somewhere. This assumes uniformity, which of course is not true. COVID’s genome is under crazy intense selection pressure!

The sequence GATTCA appears 4 times in the reference version of the COVID genome :) (Go to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/NC_045512 , pick "Find in this Sequence" on the right)