In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a two-week holiday. A petri dish of bacteria accidentally left on the lab bench somehow became cross-contaminated with Penicillium notatum mold. Fleming noticed the mold inhibited the growth of the bacteria. This accidental discovery marked the dawn of the antibiotic era and a turning point in medical and perhaps human history.
Recently, another accidental discovery has scientists wondering whether we have turned another corner in history.
The story begins with Kevin McKernan, a scientist with 25 years of experience in the genomic field and a leading expert in sequencing methods for DNA and RNA. He has worked on the Human Genome Project and more recently in medicinal genomics involving DNA sequencing.
In the process of trying to sort out a sequencing problem, McKernan used anonymously sent Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 bivalent vaccines to act as mRNA controls.
McKernan was shocked: “It’s not what we were looking for. ... I had this hunch that the new modified nucleotides they have in the mRNA may have a higher error rate, and therefore we would see more mistakes in the mRNA. So I knew we would have to sequence like a millionfold deep ... over and over again to find these mistakes. When we did that, DNA popped up and I thought ‘Oh, that’s a bigger problem. We have to focus on that.’ ... I kind of went into panic mode, realizing that I didn’t budget any time to look into this, and the world has to know about it.”
Let’s pause here and look at what we’re told about the COVID-19 mRNA injections. We’re assured:
The injections won’t change your DNA.
Let’s look at that last one a little bit closer.
Phew. Well, that’s OK then, right?
At the time, this was assumed due to reverse transcription of the mRNA. However, in light of McKernan’s discovery, there’s a whole new possibility to consider. What if the vaccines already contained DNA? Then arguments about whether the mRNA could reverse transcribe into DNA become irrelevant.
So the Pfizer and Moderna vials of bivalent vaccine that McKernan tested were contaminated with DNA. DNA encoding the spike gene and potentially capable of inserting into the genome of an organism.
(It’s unclear how these limits were decided. Personally, we’d be hoping for zero DNA in our mRNA injections.)
This means that DNA should not be more than 0.033 percent of the total nucleic acids in the dose. But McKernan’s analysis demonstrated DNA contamination of up to 35 percent in the bivalent injection samples. This is up to 1,000 times higher than deemed to be “acceptable” by the regulating authorities.
Next, McKernan analyzed the monovalent (earlier) injections. The Pfizer monovalent injections were also found to be contaminated with DNA, though not as much. The levels of DNA in the Pfizer monovalent injections were 18 to 70 times higher than the EMA limit.
So what happens now?
He explained: “The publication system, during the pandemic, is politicized. So that’s probably not going to get the word out very quickly. I had to do my best to document this all and make the data public.”
If McKernan’s findings are verified, the implications are serious. Widespread DNA contamination would bring into question the quality of the entire mRNA injection manufacturing process, safety systems, and regulatory oversight. In addition, DNA might not be the only contaminant.
Another question weighs heavily. What does this “accidental discovery” mean for those who’ve had the mRNA injections, in terms of their health, their offspring, and the future of the human genome?
Scientists and genomics experts are shocked by the discovery. McKernan, too.
“I didn’t expect to find Pfizer’s entire blueprint for how they manufacture this thing sitting in the vial.”
Neither did we.