Joe Rogan's Statements on the mRNA Vaccine Are Incorrect

We listened to the full episode to discover the context for Rogan’s statements. What Rogan said is: “It's not really a vaccine in the traditional sense. A vaccine is where they take a dead virus, and they turn it into a vaccine, and they inject it into your body so that your body fights off — it develops the antibodies, and your body understands what that is, whether it's the measles or polio, it knows how to fight it off. This is really gene therapy. It's a different thing. It’s tricking your body into producing spike protein and making these antibodies for COVID. But it’s only good for a few months, they’re finding out now. The efficacy wanes after five or six months. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t take it. But I’m saying, you’re calling it a thing that it’s not. It’s not exactly what you’re saying it is, and you’re mandating people take it.”

However, Rogan’s statements are based off a misunderstanding of mRNA vaccines. 

In fact, the vaccines “can't change your genes, and they don't stay in your body for more than a few days.”

Gene therapy modifies your DNA, while mRNA vaccines do not. Rather, the vaccine tells your cells to create spike proteins found on the coronavirus’s surface. Your immune system learns to recognize the protein and defend itself against the virus. However, the spike protein itself has been made harmless. 

For example, according to the Moderna vaccine website: “Helping the body make its own medicine using mRNA sounds like it might be similar to gene therapy or gene editing. While these treatment approaches seek to treat disease through genetic information, they take fundamentally different approaches. Gene therapy and gene editing alter the original genetic information each cell carries. The goal is to produce a permanent fix to the underlying genetic problem by changing the defective gene. Moderna is taking a different approach to address the underlying cause of MMA and other diseases. mRNA transfers the instructions stored in DNA to make the proteins required in every living cell. Our approach aims to help the body make its own missing or defective protein. Unlike gene editing and gene therapy, mRNA technology does not change the genetic information of the cell, and is intended to be short-acting. It acts like traditional drugs that can be adjusted over time based on the dose and frequency needed. In simple terms, we are working to provide physicians and patients with a ‘controllable’ way to start and manage their therapy over time.”

To summarize, gene therapy fixes defective genes by editing their original material, while the mRNA vaccine trains your body to make its own protein using its own genetic material.