Drew Weissman

When immunologist Drew Weissman first learned that he and his collaborator, Katalin Karikó, had won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for the mRNA research that led to the creation of lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines, he thought it was a prank. It was an understandable reaction from one-half of the duo who’d faced a steady uphill battle for years in persuading the scientific community to take an interest in their breakthrough work. Now Weissman’s focus is on other potential applications of mRNA research: “We’ve got five or six vaccines in Phase 1 clinical trials, for things like HIV, genital herpes, influenza, norovirus, malaria,” he told the Association of American Medical Colleges in January. “Also, we’ve had great success in our in vivo gene therapy in pre-trial research.” This time around, it probably won’t be quite so hard to get people to pay attention.