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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Do some promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates use nanotechnology?

By Bakar Wilson
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YES

Two promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates employ extremely small particles to induce human cells to ward off the disease, an application of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves physical particles about 1 to 100 nanometers in size. There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch.

Vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, which have shown encouraging results in early human trials, use a "messenger" RNA nanoparticle, a molecule that conveys genetic information, to instruct cells to produce antigens. Antigens in turn induce the body's immune system to produce antibodies against the virus. An mRNA vaccine differs from widely-used "live" vaccines used to protect against a range of familiar diseases such as chickenpox and measles, which inject a weakened version of the targeted virus into the body.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
National Nanotechnology Initiative: What is nanotechnology?
Pfizer: Get the facts on our COVID-19 vaccine candidates
Centers for Disease Control: Understanding how vaccines work
National Library of Medicine: COVID-19 vaccine frontrunners and their nanotechnology design
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.