Vaccine vs. Gene Therapy: Which Term Is Correct?
Forbes made unwelcome news recently by replacing one of its headlines: “Yes, The Vaccine Changes Your DNA. A Tiny Bit. That’s a Good Thing.” Though the body of the November 29 article remained unchanged, the writer, Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering professor Steven Salzberg, decided to revise the headline a couple of hours after publication with a direct contradiction: “Covid Vaccines Don’t Alter Your DNA — They Help Choose Cells to Strengthen Your Immune Response.”
While Salzberg’s article does a good job explaining how all vaccines make small alterations to the DNA of certain immune cells, giving them a “way of ‘remembering’ how to fight off infections,” his Forbes foible nevertheless added fuel to public fears and growing controversy over what COVID jabs actually are. “Pretty sure I got fact-checked for saying this months ago. It’s fine, it’s just a little gene therapy,” wrote New Jersey gym owner Ian Smith, an outspoken opponent of COVID containment measures, when he posted the Forbes headline switch on Instagram.
Indeed, Salzberg’s slip gave traction to the term already in popular use. Podcasting giant Joe Rogan told his audience in August, “It’s not really a vaccine…. This is really gene therapy.” Conservative talk-radio host Steven Hotze, M.D. used the expression in a video posted last February on his website, calling COVID-19 shots “experimental gene therapy.”
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