I'm not sure if you read the article passed the headline but I doesn't say what you think it says.
There are many varieties of RNA and they have different functions in different organisms. Some organisms don't have DNA. In those organisms RNA serves as the primary genetic material so when discussing these organisms it's fair to say that manipulating their RNA is manipulated their genes. Humans aren't one of these organisms though. No animal is.
The type of RNA in question for the purposes of the vaccine is messenger RNA (mRNA). To understand what this is you need to understand the basic flow of gene expression in a DNA based organism. DNA lives in the nucleus of the cell. In order to affect things outside of the nucleus it needs an intermediary, mRNA. An enzyme will come along, read the DNA and assemble a strand of mRNA based on the genetic code of the DNA. The mRNA will leave the nucleus and travel to a different part of the cell, the ribosomes. The ribosomes will read the mRNA and assemble a protein. Proteins are the primary worker unit of gene expression and they're responsible for a lot of the functions of your body.
Most vaccines work by injecting people with proteins from the target virus. The immune system will recognize these proteins as a threat and develop antibodies against them which will give you protection if your body every encounters the proteins from an actual virus. The mRNA vaccine is different in that instead of being injected with protein, you're injected with mRNA. The mRNA will travel to your ribosomes and the ribosomes will assemble a protein based on that mRNA. You immune system will then recognize and build antibodies against that protein the same way as with a conventional protein based vaccine.
mRNA isn't a gene, idiot
I'm not sure if you read the article passed the headline but I doesn't say what you think it says.
There are many varieties of RNA and they have different functions in different organisms. Some organisms don't have DNA. In those organisms RNA serves as the primary genetic material so when discussing these organisms it's fair to say that manipulating their RNA is manipulated their genes. Humans aren't one of these organisms though. No animal is.
The type of RNA in question for the purposes of the vaccine is messenger RNA (mRNA). To understand what this is you need to understand the basic flow of gene expression in a DNA based organism. DNA lives in the nucleus of the cell. In order to affect things outside of the nucleus it needs an intermediary, mRNA. An enzyme will come along, read the DNA and assemble a strand of mRNA based on the genetic code of the DNA. The mRNA will leave the nucleus and travel to a different part of the cell, the ribosomes. The ribosomes will read the mRNA and assemble a protein. Proteins are the primary worker unit of gene expression and they're responsible for a lot of the functions of your body.
Most vaccines work by injecting people with proteins from the target virus. The immune system will recognize these proteins as a threat and develop antibodies against them which will give you protection if your body every encounters the proteins from an actual virus. The mRNA vaccine is different in that instead of being injected with protein, you're injected with mRNA. The mRNA will travel to your ribosomes and the ribosomes will assemble a protein based on that mRNA. You immune system will then recognize and build antibodies against that protein the same way as with a conventional protein based vaccine.