Last week The Clay County Free Press had an article on the achievements of TSA at national competition. Briefly mentioned was the first place winning of Katie Payne and David Tanner in Biotechnology Design.

Payne and Tanner decided to choose the topic of Dendrimer mRNA vaccines because of their potential to help save many lives in the future. They spent months on research for their project. Dendrimer mRNA vaccines are a type of vaccine that can be created in as little as six weeks. Traditional vaccines take a long time, some several years, to be created. Traditional vaccines also cost a lot of money. Most traditional vaccines are difficult to transport and “keep.” Many need a constant certain temperature to remain effective.

Payne and Tanner did  research on mRNA vaccines due to their effectiveness during testing, their quick processing time and because they cost less to produce. There are no temperature demands for mRNA vaccines. They could easily be transported to other countries or wherever they may be needed. Research testing for mRNA vaccines have come from MIT and Payne and Tanner researched testing’s an information as recent as 2015-2016. mRNA vaccines have been tested in mice and have been 100 percent effective.

mRNA vaccines are created from the genetic material from a specific virus so the vaccine would be effective for whichever virus a vaccine is needed for.  The dendrimer is the vector and attaches itself which allowed the mRNA to enter a cell. The mRNA makes the necessary components that enter the cell to make an immunity.

A simple example can be explained as the mRNA is like a construction worker who has to get to a job. The jobsite is the cell, and his job is to build a resistance to a virus. The dendrimer nanoparticle is the workers car to get to the jobsite.

Payne and Tanner had to spend a lot of time on their research, getting all of their facts and information and create a visual display. At national competition, there were about 60-80 entries total in the Biotechnology Design category. They competed as the only group of two in a category that had teams of mostly five and six people per team. After their display was judged, they entered into the top 12 semifinalists and went on for an interview in front of a panel of judges that consisted of a 10-minute presentation and a five-minute interview where they had to answer questions about the mRNA vaccines.

Congratulations Katie and David!