Buyer beware: molnupiravir may damage DNA
- J. V. van Schalkwyk
- Published in British medical journal 4 November 2021
- Medicine
TLDR
There is a certain irony that vaccine shy people who have believed the untruth that vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 alter DNA seem poised to reach for a perceived “alternative” that may actually alter their DNA adversely, supported by the rise in Merck’s share price and Moderna’s corresponding drop.
Abstract
Johan M van Schalkwyk perioperative physician Although the Ingelfinger rule seems to have dissolved into dust with the coming of covid-19,1 I was a little disappointed that your journal seems to have mirrored Merck’s press release about molnupiravir without substantial critical comment.2 Molnupiravir clearly induces intense mutagenesis in SARS-CoV-2,3 and this accounts for its efficacy. But β-d-N4-hydroxycytidine, the active metabolite of molnupiravir, is not only cytotoxic but also mutagenic in mammalian cells.4 The drug may damage DNA. There is a certain irony that vaccine shy people who have believed the untruth that vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 alter DNA seem poised to reach for a perceived “alternative” that may actually alter their DNA adversely. This worry is supported by the rise in Merck’s share price and Moderna’s corresponding drop, as reported by Reuters.5 Buyer beware.Collapse
