fatlike

In 2017 Norbert Pardi and I demonstrated that modified mRNA, carried into human cells by a fatlike nanoparticle, protected the mRNA from being broken down by the body and prompted the immune system to generate antibodies that neutralize an invading virus more effectively than the immune system could do on its own.

This enzyme breaks down a fatlike substance that normally exists in very small, harmless amounts in the brain.

Without HexA, however, this fatlike substance can accumulate to toxic levels that damage and kill neurons.

The companies give the mRNA some protection during production and storage by inserting it into a carrier, a fatlike substance called a lipid nanoparticle.

The liver produces this waxy, fatlike substance, which is just one component — along with calcium and other debris — of the plaque that can clog arteries and cause heart attacks and certain kinds of stroke.