Study by Lund University researchers didn’t show that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines change our DNA
A study published by researchers at Lund University in Sweden made the rounds in late February 2022[1], with many social media users sharing it as evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines change our DNA. Articles, like this one published by the Epoch Times, also reported on the study in a similar fashion, leading readers to believe the study contradicted statements made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as seen from shares of the article here and here.
The false claim that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines change our DNA has been circulating since mid-2020, as this Health Feedback review documented. And the recent study by Lund University researchers fails to bring evidence to the contrary. This review explains what the study reported, what the findings mean (and what they don’t), and shows why the claim is inaccurate and misleading.
The foundations of the study and what the study reported
The study, titled “Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line”, draws on an earlier controversial study by Zhang et al. published in May 2021 in the journal PNAS[2], in which scientists reported that SARS-CoV-2-infected cells carried DNA copies of the virus’ genetic material. Zhang et al. further reported that the presence of these DNA copies in the genome of the cells was enabled thanks to the action of a transposable element named LINE-1, which is present in human DNA. Transposable elements, discovered by the geneticist Barbara McClintock, are also known as “jumping genes” because of their ability to move from one place to another in the genome.
This ability is thanks in part to an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which the LINE-1 element encodes for. Reverse transcriptase enables the production of DNA from RNA. Therefore, viral RNA could in theory be reverse-transcribed into DNA in the presence of reverse transcriptase activity from LINE-1.
In the recent study, the scientists added varying amounts of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a cell culture of human liver cells derived from a hepatocarcinoma (liver cancer). This human liver cell line is named Huh7.
The scientists then measured the amount of LINE-1 in the cells and the presence of reverse-transcribed DNA corresponding to the mRNA from the vaccine. They reported that the cells contained more LINE-1 after mRNA exposure and that at least partial DNA copies of the vaccine mRNA were present.
Based on these results, they suggested that the vaccine could affect the integrity of the human genome, leading to health problems, as this line attests to: “Our study shows that BNT162b2 can be reverse transcribed to DNA in liver cell line Huh7, and this may give rise to the concern if BNT162b2-derived DNA may be integrated into the host genome and affect the integrity of genomic DNA, which may potentially mediate genotoxic side effects.”
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