How to Use messenger RNA in a Sentence

messenger RNA

noun
  • Everything else is just a lipid membrane and a piece of messenger RNA.
    — al, 13 Aug. 2021
  • The instructions take the same form—messenger RNA—that all cells use to make each and every protein in our bodies.
    — Clayton Dalton, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2021
  • The way these vaccines work is by delivering a copy of messenger RNA, which acts like a blueprint for cells to make proteins.
    — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Some are also trying to use messenger RNA or other new technologies to improve flu and other shots.
    — Jared S. Hopkins, WSJ, 31 Oct. 2022
  • For decades, researchers had explored messenger RNA as a possible tool against cancer, but few investors were willing to bet on it.
    — Anthony J. Zagotta, Boston Herald, 4 Dec. 2025
  • These vaccines work by sending messenger RNA into cells in the body to instruct them to build proteins that trigger an immune response.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023
  • Such a quick turnaround might benefit makers of messenger RNA vaccines, with their rapid plug-and-play technology.
    — Liz Essley Whyte, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2023
  • The researchers found that the mutations expected to be neutral often influenced the amount of messenger RNA present in the cell.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 11 June 2022
  • In rare cases, messenger RNA vaccines have been linked to heart inflammation and heart-lining inflammation, and the risk appears to be higher in young males.
    — Robert Langreth, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2021
  • The messenger RNA approach starts with a snippet of genetic code carrying instructions for making proteins.
    — Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2023
  • These vaccines deliver a snippet of genetic code—in the form of messenger RNA (mRNA)—to cells.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The shots from both Moderna and Pfizer use messenger RNA technology.
    — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2025
  • For a decade, the companies flourished, flush with cash, and fueled by excitement over new technologies such as cell therapy, gene editing and messenger RNA.
    — Joseph Walker, WSJ, 10 Feb. 2023
  • The trial was designed to enroll as many as 4,500 children to test the safety and efficacy of the companies' messenger RNA vaccine.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 17 Dec. 2021
  • That could be particularly true in the wake of the Covid pandemic, when messenger RNA vaccines made their global debut, especially if a flu pandemic were to happen in the near term.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 22 May 2024
  • Beginning in August, the researchers trained their computers on the 33 million cells in the database, focusing on a type of genetic information called messenger RNA.
    — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2024
  • Within the data, researchers were able to detect messenger RNA molecules, which code proteins, as well as microRNA, which regulates the activity of genes.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025
  • The achievement was the first link in the chain of advances that has led to the genetic engineering of new therapeutic treatments for diseases and of vaccines, like the messenger RNA versions used to counter the virus that causes Covid-19.
    — Don R. Hecker, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The team employed a novel method using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) directly to the testes.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 13 Oct. 2025
  • But in rare cases, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have been linked to myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle—mystifying scientists and clinicians.
    — Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 10 Dec. 2025
  • These microRNA specifically target and degrade messenger RNA carrying the instructions to build more huntingtin protein, therefore lowering the amount of huntingtin protein in the cell.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Watson later joined Harvard University’s biology faculty, where his research focused on understanding messenger RNA.
    — David M. Ewalt, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Watson ran a lab at Harvard University and was a co-discoverer of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries DNA's instructions to cells' protein-making factories.
    — Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The study, published in November in the journal ACS Nano, uses lipid particles to deliver messenger RNA and an immune-stimulating molecule into tumors.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Recently disclosed results of the test of an experimental vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) on 16 patients were extraordinarily positive.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Recently disclosed results of the test of an experimental vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) on 16 patients were extraordinarily positive.
    — Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 30 Apr. 2026
  • In 2023, the prize was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, for their work on messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, a crucial tool in curtailing the spread of Covid-19.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Moderna's flu vaccines uses messenger RNA technology, which is also used in Moderna's and Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 shots.
    — Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 18 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'messenger RNA.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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