Study finds it possible that RNA from an mRNA injection can be integrated into our DNA.

Original news article (in spanish): https://cienciaysaludnatural.com/estudio-considera-posible-que-arn-de-una-inyeccion-de-arnm-se-pueda-integrar-a-nuestro-adn/

“SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome.” bioRxiv (2020) SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.12.422516. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.12.422516v1

A new study by scientists at MIT and Harvard posits that RNA segments from the coronavirus itself are likely becoming a permanent fixture in human DNA. These researchers found that genetic segments of this RNA virus are likely making their way into our genome. They found that the likely pathway being used is (retrotransposon, and in particular a LINE-1 element) for this retrointegration to occur.

It appears that this integration of viral RNA segments into our DNA is not that rare, based on the frequency with which they were able to measure this phenomenon both in Petri dishes and in patients with COVID, the likelihood is much higher than initially anticipated.

This study did not demonstrate that RNA from current vaccines is integrating into our DNA. However, they did demonstrate, convincingly, that there is a viable cellular pathway by which fragments of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA could integrate into our genomic DNA.

That said, these data can be used to make a conjecture as to whether RNA present in an RNA vaccine could potentially alter human DNA. This is because an mRNA vaccine consists of fragments of viral RNA from the SARS-CoV-2 genome; in particular, current mRNA vaccines harbor stabilized mRNA encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, which is the protein that allows the virus to bind to cell surface receptors and infect our cells.

This was thought almost impossible, possibly the importance of this study will quickly be downplayed by reports from experts responding to other interests, but to be able to answer the question: can coronavirus RNA use existing cellular pathways to permanently integrate into our DNA, from that perspective, the research is solid. These are scientists have significant track records at MIT and Harvard cannot be so easily invalidated.

Why did these researchers bother to investigate whether viral RNA could be integrated into our genomic DNA? It turns out that their motive has nothing to do with mRNA vaccines. The researchers were puzzled by the fact that there are a respectable number of people who test positive for COVID-19 by PCR long after the infection was gone. It was also shown that these people were not reinfected. The authors sought to answer how a PCR test is able to detect segments of viral RNA when the virus is presumed to be absent from a person’s body. They hypothesized that segments of viral RNA were somehow copied into DNA and then permanently integrated into the DNA of somatic cells. This would allow these cells to continuously produce fragments of viral RNA that would be detected in a PCR test, even in the absence of active infection. Through their experiments, they did not find full-length viral RNA integrated into genomic DNA; rather, they found smaller segments of viral DNA, mostly representing the nucleocapsid (N) protein of the virus, although other viral segments were found integrated into human DNA at a lower frequency.

In this paper, they demonstrate that:
1) SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA segments can integrate into human genomic DNA.

2) This newly acquired viral sequence is not silent, meaning that these genetically modified regions of genomic DNA are transcriptionally active (DNA is converted back to RNA).

3) Segments of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA retrointegrated into human genomic DNA in cell culture. This retrointegration into genomic DNA from COVID-19 patients is also indirectly implied by the detection of chimeric RNA transcripts in cells derived from COVID-19 patients. Although their RNAseq data suggest that genomic alteration is occurring in COVID-19 patients, to prove this point conclusively, PCR, DNA sequencing, or Southern Blot should be performed on purified genomic DNA from COVID-19 patients to prove this point conclusively. This is a gap to be closed in research. However, in vitro data in human cell lines are airtight.

4) This viral retrointegration of RNA into DNA can be induced by endogenous LINE-1 retrotransposons, which produce an active reverse transcriptase (RT) that converts RNA to DNA. (All humans have multiple copies of LINE-1 retrotransposons residing in their genome). The frequency of viral RNA retrointegration into DNA correlates positively with LINE-1 expression levels in the cell.

5) These LINE-1 retrotransposons can be activated by viral infection with SARS-CoV-2, or cytokine exposure to cells, and this increases the likelihood of retrointegration.

If the virus is able to accomplish this, then could the vaccine do the same?
These pathways that these researchers verified with their experiments are not unknown to people who understand molecular biology at a deeper level. This is not hidden knowledge that is only available to the initiated. The people who are developing the vaccines are people who understand molecular biology at a very sophisticated level. So why didn’t they investigate this, or even ask this question, or even do some experiments to rule it out. Instead, they just used superficially simplistic basic biology as a smoke screen to say that RNA does not convert to DNA. This is completely false.

Vaccine RNA is different from RNA produced by the virus. Vaccine RNA is artificially engineered. First, it is designed to stay in your cells for much longer than usual (RNA is naturally unstable and degrades rapidly in the cell). Second, it is designed so that it is efficient at translating into protein (they achieve this by codon optimization). Increasing the stability of the RNA increases the likelihood that it will integrate into your DNA; and increasing the efficiency of translation increases the amount of protein translated from the RNA if it becomes incorporated into your DNA in a transcriptionally active region of your genome. Theoretically, this means that any negative effects associated with the natural process of RNA/viral DNA integration,

These study researchers found that the genetic information of the nucleocapsid protein “N” was the major culprit of being permanently integrated into human DNA (because this RNA is most abundant when the virus replicates in our cells). The vaccine, on the other hand, contains RNA encoding the Spike (S) protein. Therefore, if the vaccine mRNA (or subsegments of it) were to reach a transcriptionally active region of our genome through a process of retrointegration, it would cause our cells to produce an overabundance of Spike protein, rather than N protein. Our immune system produces antibodies against both N and S proteins, but the Spike protein is the primary target of our immune system because it exists on the outside of the virus. If our cells become permanent (rather than temporary) spike protein producing factories due to permanent alteration of our genomic DNA, this could lead to serious autoimmune problems.

It is not being claimed that an injection of mRNA will permanently alter genomic DNA, this research certainly deserves more serious inspection and testing to rule out this possibility, and should be incorporated into the rigorous and comprehensive testing program with the same enthusiasm that propelled the random vaccine through the normal safety checkpoints.

Quoting from the study:
In support of this hypothesis, we found chimeric transcripts consisting of viral sequences fused to cellular sequences in published data sets of cultured SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and primary patient cells , consistent with transcription of genome-integrated viral sequences. To experimentally corroborate the possibility of viral retrointegration, we describe evidence that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse transcribed in human cells by reverse transcriptase (RT) of LINE-1 elements or by RT of HIV-1 , and that these DNA sequences can be integrated into the cellular genome and subsequently transcribed. Endogenous expression of LINE-1 was induced after SARS-CoV-2 infection or by cytokine exposure in cultured cells, suggesting a molecular mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 retrointegration in patients. This new feature of SARS-CoV-2 infection may explain why patients can continue to produce viral RNA after recovery and suggests a new aspect of RNA virus replication.

References

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.12.422516
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.12.422516v1