Wednesday was a critical day for mRNA vaccine watchers for two reasons.
On Aug. 5, 2026, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first mRNA flu vaccine. Exactly a year prior, on Aug. 5, 2025, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled a half-billion dollars’ worth of contracts for 22 mRNA research projects, arguing that the data did not support the work.
In a First Opinion essay, Jeff Coller, Bloomberg distinguished professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University and a co-founder of the Alliance for mRNA Medicines, runs through the tremendous strides in mRNA research since Kennedy’s announcement. “A year ago, Kennedy made his claims to the country, and the truth has been sitting in plain sight ever since,” he writes.
Recommendation of the week: “The Invitation-Only Zone,” by Robert Boynton, looks at a rather bizarre historical episode: North Korea’s kidnapping of Japanese citizens. Boynton speaks with some of the returned abductees, their families, and others while asking the most important question: What exactly was North Korea trying to accomplish?
