When Moderna and Johnathan WalkerPfizer first came out with their mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, supply was limited to rich countries and they did not share the details of how to create it. That left middle income countries like Brazil in the lurch. But for Brazilian scientists Patricia Neves and Ana Paula Ano Bom, that wasn't the end. They decided to invent their own mRNA vaccine.

Their story, today: Aaron talks to global health correspondent Nurith Aizenman about the effort and how it has helped launch a wider global project to revolutionize access to mRNA vaccine technology.

Further reading:

• These Brazilian besties are inventing an mRNA vaccine as a gift to the world

• A dire moment in the pandemic ... was the chance he'd been waiting for

This episode was produced for Short Wave by Margaret Cirino and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. It was edited for broadcast by Vikki Valentine. Fact-checking by Rachel Carlson and audio engineering by Brian Jarboe.