For decades, the messenger RNA (mRNA) platform was seen as too unstable and expensive to be used in vaccines or therapeutic medicines. That changed when the COVID-19 pandemic sparked enough urgency, resources, and money to bring about a breakthrough. Andy speaks with Uwe Schoenbeck, the chief scientific officer for Pfizer's Emerging Science & Innovation team, about what makes the mRNA platform more nimble than conventional methods and its potential future uses, including a game-changing flu vaccine and gene editing therapeutics for cancers, Alzheimer's, and HIV/AIDS.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt. 

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Learn more about Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation: https://www.pfizercti.com/
• We won a Webby! Thanks for voting for us for Best Health and Wellness Podcast: https://winners.webbyawards.com/winners/podcasts/general-series/health-wellness?years=0&sort=0
• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community here: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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