PLENTY OF PEOPLE hate needles. Indeed, it is probably the case that a portion of those refusing to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 might be doing so simply because they do not want the discomfort of being jabbed. A new invention could help—for those who are needle-shy, how about taking a pill instead?
Two of the most successful covid-19 vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, need to be administered via injections because their active ingredients are fragile molecules of mRNA. These vaccines cannot be administered orally, since the mRNA would be quickly destroyed by acids in the stomach.
Aware of these challenges, Robert Langer and Giovanni Traverso, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), wondered if it might be possible instead to smuggle mRNA into the stomach inside a protective capsule that is engineered to jab patients from the inside, where they would feel nothing.
This is not new ground for the researchers. Several years ago they collaborated to create a star-shaped structure that could be folded up inside a capsule and then released when the capsule dissolved in the stomach. Once free, the structure remained in the stomach for a month, slowly releasing contraceptives, malaria drugs or HIV treatments as needed by a patient.
With this in mind,...
