AAPS;The current controversy over alleged DNA contamination of COVID-19 vaccines involves complex issues and also shows the difficulties of getting to the truth in today's polarized and politicized atmosphere, writes Dr. Jane Orient, in the issue of Winter Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. “The plasmid DNA contamination theory is not a sensational Internet rumor, but a reality-based hypothesis driven by standard laboratory research conducted by professional researchers,” she writes. At the core of the theory are two preprints by and co-authored by Kevin McKernan. , and testimony before the South Carolina Senate by Phillip Buckhaults, Ph.D., the article states. The source of the problem is in the industrial pharmaceutical production process. The Pfizer mRNA vaccine used in clinical trials used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process to produce the DNA that encoded the mRNA (Process 1). But to scale up production to make millions of doses, plasmids, small circular pieces of DNA in bacterial cells, were used (Process 2). The product must then be purified to remove residual DNA, the article explains. Recognizing the potential danger of DNA fragments, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets limits on the allowable concentration, which these researchers say was exceeded in the samples they tested. No further testing was performed on Process 2. Regulators and manufacturers assumed it resulted in a “similar” product. But some researchers maintain that some pollutants can induce autoimmune responses or myocarditis, or induce or accelerate cancers. Of particular concern is the “promoter” sequence found in the genome of the carcinogenic simian virus 40 (SV 40), the article notes. The critical appraisal identifies many limitations in the studies, which the authors freely acknowledge: for example, the samples are few and they lack chain of custody, notes Dr. Orient. The inclusion of DNA fragments in lipid nanoparticles can facilitate entry into the cell nucleus and integration into the genome, says Dr. Buckhaults. In his testimony, he notes in the article, he suggests sequencing the DNA of the stem cells of patients experiencing adverse reactions to look for this “calling card.” More intense research is urgently needed, concludes Dr. Orient. Read on the AAPS website: aapsonline.org/…Read the PDF of the magazine article: https://jpands.org/…Related interview: rumble.com/…
