Messenger RNA molecules from the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are able to cross the placental barrier and enter the fetus during pregnancy, according to a new scientific study.
The study, which was conducted on mice, is the first to show that genetic material from an mRNA vaccine can be transferred directly to a fetus via the mother.
Accepted explanations claim protection is conferred on fetuses through the transfer of antibodies, rather than genetic material, but this new study, if correct, shows such claims to be wrong. It also underlines the fact that mRNA vaccines do not function in the same way as “traditional” vaccines.
“This study provides the first in vivo confirmation that mRNA injections cross the placenta, directly reaching the fetus,” Nicolas Hulscher, who first reported the study, notes.
“It also helps explain why these genetic injections pose such serious risks to pregnant women and their unborn children.”
The researchers behind the study administered Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine to pregnant mice.
At least one previous study had claimed that neither mRNA nor the COVID-19 spike protein could be detected in placental and cord-blood samples after vaccination of pregnant women. This was taken to suggest that the placenta served as an impassable barrier for such materials.
However, the new research on mice showed that mRNA from the vaccine passed quickly through the placenta to the fetus, within an hour of administration, and persisted in fetal tissues. mRNA was found in fetal spleen and liver tissue three weeks after the mouse pups were born.
It was also found that the fetuses were producing the spike protein, raising concerns about unintended immune responses and other negative effects.
DNA contamination has been demonstrated during the manufacture of the mRNA vaccines, with fears this could directly lead to the incorporation of genetic material in the host’s tissues, with the potential to cause cancer.
The researchers behind the study said the vaccine “did not pose discernable safety issues in pregnant mice and their pups.” However, they conceded, “the risk of long-term genotoxicity in the offspring born to mRNA-vaccinated mothers cannot be overlooked.”