On Sept. 28, 2026, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers announced finding a way to stabilize the lipid nanoparticles used to deliver RNA vaccines, which could allow the vaccines to be more widely distributed.

RNA vaccines, which have been proven effective against Covid-19, are now being developed for many other diseases, including cancer. One of the drawbacks to these vaccines is that they require ultracold storage, but researchers from MIT have found a promising way to overcome that limitation.

With help from an AI algorithm, the researchers tweaked the formulation surrounding the lipid nanoparticles that are typically used to deliver mRNA vaccines, making the vaccines more heat-resistant. Using this approach, they formulated vaccines that could remain stable even when stored at room temperature for up to a year, or at nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit for two months.

When Covid-19 vaccines carried by these particles were administered to mice, they generated just as strong an immune response as an RNA Covid-19 vaccine similar to one developed by Moderna. By using the AI algorithm to predict the optimal formulations for the particles, the researchers were able to cut down the number of experiments they needed to do, which rapidly sped up the development process.

Jaklenec and Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor, are the senior authors of the paper, which appears in Nature Biotechnology. Graduate student Jinbi Tian and postdoc Khanh Tran are the lead authors of the paper.

The researchers also used their new heat-resistant formulation to create solid microneedle patches that could deliver a SARS-CoV-2 antigen. These patches generated an immune response similar to that produced by the injectable RNA vaccines.

The researchers also showed that they could use their algorithm to stabilize other LNP formulations, including one similar to those used by Pfizer to deliver its Covid-19 vaccine. This formulation uses the same excipients as the one the MIT team developed for the Moderna LNP, but in a different ratio. For each LNP, once a heat-resistant formulation has been developed, it could be adapted to deliver any type of mRNA payload, the researchers say.