Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Monday March 26, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 25
Twitter: @princetonian Facebook: The Daily Princetonian YouTube: The Daily Princetonian Instagram: @dailyprincetonian
COVID-19
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
Designed by: Isabel Kim
Princeton researchers’ new technology could create more effective vaccines
By Amy Ciceu staff writer
A team led by two University faculty members has developed a novel encapsulation technology aiming to help administer more effective and robust vaccines. A product of Optimeos Life Sciences Inc., a biotechnology company founded by Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Robert Prud’homme and Keller Center Entrepreneurship Specialist and Lecturer Shahram Hejazi, the new mRNA technology will rely on inverse flash nanoprecipitation (iFNP), an technique pioneered by the company in 2016. iFNP encapsulates drugs or biological molecules, including peptides and mRNA, into nano-scale particles that permit increased efficacy and delivery when administered. Incorporating this technology into the COVID-19 vaccine platform would augment the amount of mRNA that can be contained within each administered dose, thus requiring a smaller quantity of mRNA particles and amplifying the vaccine’s immune response. The current COVID-19 vaccines on the market, including those by Pfizer and Moderna, rely on innovative lipid-nanoparticle mRNA tech-
nology that encodes the genetic information of the COVID-19 spike protein. The injected mRNA familiarizes bodies with the spike protein by spurring the creation of antibodies that defend the body against future attacks by the virus. However, despite the pace of current COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution, as well as the 94 percent efficacy rate documented for the Moderna vaccine, these vaccine technologies have certain shortcomings. For instance, there are issues of scalability and overactive immune responses. Optimeos’ forthcoming product seeks to improve upon these areas of mRNA vaccine technology. In an email to The Daily Princetonian, Prud’homme explained the advantages of the iNFP-based mRNA technology relative to the current mRNA vaccines. “First, we can obtain loadings of mRNA five times higher than in the published Moderna vaccines,” Prud’homme wrote. “This advantage appears not to be needed for the COVID-19 vaccine. However, there are other disease indications, such as those requiring antisense RNA delivery, where the total amount delivered intra-cellularly should make a difference.” “The other major difference
TRIGGER MOUSE / PIXABAY
is that our technology does not require cationic (i.e. positively charged) components,” Prud’homme added. “These are required for the current Moderna or Pfizer lipid nanoparticles. These cationic components help activate the immune system and are helpful for vaccines. But they cause an overactive immune response if you try multiple injections.” Referencing an article that Antonin de Fougerolles, one of the early Chief Scientific
Officers of Moderna, penned in regard to the success of the biotechnology company’s COVID-19 vaccine, Prud’homme pointed out that Moderna has struggled to harness its mRNA technology in confronting the challenges of diseases that necessitate multiple injections. “We rapidly made excellent progress on the mRNA design and chemistry, but the most complex piece scientifically involved the manufacture of pure mRNA and finding the best
way to deliver it into cells,” de Fougerolles wrote. “This problem was not unique to us. Several other mRNA companies at the time, notably Curevac and BioNTech, were working in the mRNA space as well, but the field in general was still hampered by inefficient and nonscalable methods to get the mRNA into cells.” Moderna ultimately made use of lipid nanoparticles in their signature mRNA vaccines, See NEWS for more
SPORTS
Moments in March: How Princeton’s 1988-89 men’s basketball team saved March Madness By Wilson Conn Contributor
COURTESY OF GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM.
Bob Scrabis ‘89 (#34) and Kit Mueller ‘91 (#00) orchestrate the offense in Princeton’s 1989 NCAA tournament game against Alonzo Mourning (#33) and the Georgetown Hoyas.
A team led by two University faculty members has developed a novel encapsulation technology aiming to help administer more effective and robust vaccines. A product of Optimeos Life Sciences Inc., a biotechnology company founded by Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Robert Prud’homme and Keller Center Entrepreneurship Specialist and Lecturer Shahram Hejazi, the new mRNA technology will rely on inverse flash nanoprecipitation (iFNP), an technique pioneered by the company in 2016. iFNP encapsulates drugs or biological molecules, including
peptides and mRNA, into nano-scale particles that permit increased efficacy and delivery when administered. Incorporating this technology into the COVID-19 vaccine platform would augment the amount of mRNA that can be contained within each administered dose, thus requiring a smaller quantity of mRNA particles and amplifying the vaccine’s immune response. The current COVID-19 vaccines on the market, including those by Pfizer and Moderna, rely on innovative lipid-nanoparticle mRNA technology that encodes the genetic information of the COVID-19 spike protein. The injected mRNA familiarizes bodies with See SPORTS for more
FEATURES
Harvesting hemp, analyzing blood, and ‘being an adult’: Tigers take on the pandemic gap year By Alexandra Wong Contributor
Before April, Dominic Dominguez ’25 never thought about taking a gap year. “I thought it was a dumb idea,” Dominguez said. “I always imagined, if you took a gap year, you would just be sitting around for a while.” Nonetheless, Dominguez — among many other Princeton admits and students — has found fulfilling ways to spend his time. The Daily Princetonian spoke with five admits and current students about their decisions to take gap years, where that’s taken them, and what they’ve learned. In the Service of Humanity Dominguez has always been interested in service. In May,
his mother suggested that he take a gap year to become an EMT, which he saw as a compromise between academics and real-world work. What was previously a daunting and unappealing prospect became a year for exploration and practical experiences. “Before I get into all this academic, theoretical stuff that is college, I really want to do things with my hands,” he said. “I want my work to have real impact.” He felt that this aspiration was particularly pressing in the context of the pandemic. He took a certification class over the summer and currently works part-time for a medical transport company. On his 12-hour shifts, he’s in an ambulance with a partner, transporting patients to and from
hospitals or extended-care facilities. These patients might have psychiatric or ambulatory issues, or require basic care like CPR or airway suctioning. Through this work, Dominguez feels he has developed deeper empathy for strangers. “This job allows you to see very intimate moments into people’s lives, into their houses, into them being sick and caring for each other,” he said. Dominguez recalled a patient he transported who was recovering from COVID-19: On the brink of tears, the patient was overjoyed to see that the trees — green when he had entered the hospital — were changing colors with the season. “He was talking about how happy he was just to be alive,” See FEATURES for more
COURTESY OF MAHYA FAISEL ’25
Mahya Fazel ’25 working as a student research assistant in the Gingras Laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital.
In Opinion Editor-in-chief Emma Treadway announces that the ‘Prince’ will publish only four days a week for the remainder of the semester and urges other Princetonians to take similar actions.