Drew Weissman
1959– — USA
Era: Modern
Brilliance: 9/10 | Stewardship: 8/10 | Composite Index: 72
mRNA vaccine co-developer with Karikó. Nobel Prize 2023.
"The lesson is that you never know where the next big discovery is going to come from. You have to keep an open mind."
Biography
Drew Weissman revolutionized medicine by discovering how to modify mRNA to evade immune detection, enabling the rapid development of COVID19 vaccines that saved millions of lives. His groundbreaking collaboration with Katalin Karikó transformed a laboratory curiosity into one of humanity's most powerful tools against infectious disease.
Key Facts
- Met Katalin Karikó at a University of Pennsylvania copy machine in 1997, sparking their Nobel Prize-winning collaboration
- Discovered that pseudouridine modifications allow mRNA to slip past immune defenses undetected
- Their 2005 breakthrough paper was initially rejected by multiple journals and received little attention
- Licensed their mRNA technology to BioNTech and Moderna for just $100 initially
- Continued working in his lab throughout the pandemic despite being in his 60s and at higher COVID-19 risk
From copy machine meeting to Nobel Prize: mRNA vaccines saved the world
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