9 ms·

I would have appreciated this year's one going for mRNA vaccine research as this would have been clearly the one to meet Nobel's will.

by siva7 5y ago

evanb 5y ago
mRNA vaccines could also be eligible for the chemistry prize (which is often a biology prize in disguise).
T3RMINATED 5y ago
mRNA kills humans whats wrong with you
ChemSpider 5y ago
I agree, but I guess the challenge here is who are the 3 scientists to credit? Katalin Karikó is certainly one of them, but who are the other two? Weissman? Ugur Sahin? Özlem Türeci? Ingmar Hoerr? Noubar Afeyan? And then there is the weirdo guy that calls himself "mrna vaccine inventor"? I guess the committee needs another 1-2 years time to decide on that, with the benefit of hindsight.
- benrapscallion 5y ago
  If you look at the past awards, the Nobel committee prefers awarding those who published the earliest, fundamental results. Even if it was published in some obscure non-English language journal (see the artemisinin prize, for example).
- OskarS 5y ago
  They've given it to organizations before (Doctors Without Borders won in 1999). Give it to Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford University then. Or "front line COVID-workers" or something. Exactly who gets it is not the main point, the main point is rewarding this incredible achievement in medicine (both the science of it, but also the work in testing, manufacturing and delivering it to patients).
  - ginko 5y ago
    >Doctors Without Borders won in 1999 That was the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm not sure if the same applies to the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
  - ChemSpider 5y ago
    > They've given it to organizations before No, never (You are confusing it with the Peace Nobel)
  - evanb 5y ago
    MSF won the peace prize, not a science prize. Science prizes have not gone to organizations; if there were ever an opportunity to break that tradition it was with the discovery of the Higgs (the 2013 prize) and they didn't.
  - icegreentea2 5y ago
    The Nobel Prize typically rewards basic research, not applied - look up who got the prize with respect polio vaccines if you're curious.
    - ChemSpider 5y ago
      Good point. In this case Katalin Karikó and Weismann are the frontrunners.
      - Arete314159 5y ago
        I've really been holding out hope for K. Karikó. She put up with such monumental struggles. Obviously the MRNA Covid vaccine is a huge "prize" and vindication for her, but I'd love to see even more. She deserves it.
ACS_Solver 5y ago
That's what I was hoping to see, an award to Karikó and Weissman for their mRNA research. I'm sure they'll get the Nobel within the next few years, but it would have been appropriate to award it now. The Nobel Committee doesn't rush the prizes, and they don't generally go to new research, but mRNA would be a very justified exception. We're currently in the worst pandemic in a century, and over the last ten months we've seen how the mRNA vaccines provide amazingly high protection against hospitalization and death.
- causi 5y ago
  I have to say, awarding it for mRNA research could easily save lives by turning a few of the vaccine-hesitant.
  - rpmisms 5y ago
    How? Pretty sure scientists praising other scientists isn't what those people are looking for.
  - jeltz 5y ago
    Turning the Nobel Prize political does not seem like a good thing even if the cause is noble this time.
  - nairboon 5y ago
    I somewhat doubt that anti-vaxxers even care about the Nobel Prize.
  - bacro 5y ago
    As I said in another comment, Egas Moniz won the Nobel prize in medicine for the lobotomy procedure for mentally-ill people!!
refurb 5y ago
It's not a popularity content. Nobel prizes are typically not given until several years after the work is complete and enough time has passed to fully appreciate the significance of it. I'd say it's a bit early for mRNA vaccines.
- bacro 5y ago
  Funnily enough, Egas Moniz was given the nobel prize in medicine for the lobotomy procedure. He claimed it helped the mentally ill. How scientific was that? XD
  - ethanbond 5y ago
    Lobotomy is still used and it is still “scientific”… We luckily have better treatments available for almost every scenario, but it’s definitely still a tool in the toolbox. Same with electroshock therapy. We can be thankful for advancements without being dismissive of some of the less ideal steps along the way.
    - bacro 5y ago
      Saying that lobotomy was good for mentally-ill people seems not very good science to me. Some people agree that he should be de-Nobelized (which I agree): https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/aug/02/highereducation.comment https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/aug/02/highereduc... Disclaimer: I am portuguese.
    - siva7 5y ago
      There is a great quote from Norbert Wiener about the procedure: "[P]refrontal lobotomy ... has recently been having a certain vogue, probably not unconnected with the fact that it makes the custodial care of many patients easier. Let me remark in passing that killing them makes their custodial care still easier." I've studied medicine but i'm not aware that it is still taught as a "tool in the toolbox" in the modern medical community.
      - ethanbond 5y ago
pibechorro 5y ago
They can just take the nobel they censored from ivermectin and attribute it to the mrna shots, no? /S
- thecopy 5y ago
  Who are they and how did they censor?
  - kibwen 5y ago
    The parent is sarcastically suggesting that there is a conspiracy to suppress ivermectin for use in treating covid. Ivermectin won the 2015 Nobel for its use in treating roundworm parasites. (Just to be maximally clear, covid is a virus, not a parasite.)
    - beerandt 5y ago
      Plenty of medicines are used for multiple things. Just because something is labeled X, doesn't preclude it from also being effective at Y. I'm not claiming that ivermectin is effective or not, but there is an incentive in preventing any FDA approved treatments from being used against COVID: emergency authorizations (including the current "full", "non-emergency" authorization that is contengent on the completion of ~12 additional detailed studies over the next 3 years) are only allowed by law if no FDA approved medicine is available as an alternative treatment. The fact that other, still experimental medications and vaccinations are allowed is proof that the FDA doesn't consider the current "non-emergency" vaccine authorization to be a "fully" authorized one. The full authorization of any new or existing medication would preclude all other experimental treatments from being used under emergency authorization.
satisfice 5y ago
I can only assume they are waiting until next year to be sure how the vaccine picture shakes out. MRNA vaccines are clearly safe and effective, and have saved countless lives, but with the dopey politics in Sweden about Covid, I am not really that surprised.
- chucky 5y ago
  As a Swede, I feel like I need to point out that this comment seems misinformed on so many levels: - the Nobel prize in medicine is not handed out by the Swedish government, so any dopey politics would not influence the Nobel prize. Rather, it is handed out by Karolinska Institutet (https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-nobel-assembly-at-karolinska-institutet/ https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-nobel-assembly-at-karol...) - Sweden's handling of Covid has not been particularly influenced by politics, it's been run by the government-appointed experts (that were appointed before Covid broke out), so the "dopey politics" referred to have never really been politically motivated. I don't think there's any reason for connecting Sweden's Covid response with who got the Nobel prize in Medicine this year.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
mongol 5y ago
I think it is very likely that it will be rewarded, just not this year. Some time need to pass, and even though the discovery should be rewarded, it also needs to be figured out who to reward it to. Probably there are more than 3 contenders.
- bduerst 5y ago
  I would bet money that there is one awarded in the next 10-15 years. Nobel prizes are notorious for not being reactionary, and waiting for the full effects of the work to be realized - i.e. GFP tagging awarded the nobel prize 16 years after it was first used. mRNA vaccination technology is just getting started, the impact of which will likely be on the level of penicillin.
  - akiselev 5y ago
    It might take even longer, though the all encompassing impact of the pandemic might bring it to the forefront. Although there are outliers, at this point the average time from discovery to Nobel recognition is over 20 years for the most recent prizes: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/09/the-nobel-prize-delay-is-growing https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/09/the-nobe...
benrapscallion 5y ago
That's a chemistry prize and most likely will happen in the next 2-3 days. Typically technologies are rewarded in chemistry whereas basic science (physiology) is rewarded in medicine.

I would have appreciated this year's one going for mRNA vaccine research as this would have been clearly the one to meet Nobel's will.

by siva7 5y ago

I would have appreciated this year's one going for mRNA vaccine research as this would have been clearly the one to meet Nobel's will.

evanb 5y ago

mRNA vaccines could also be eligible for the chemistry prize (which is often a biology prize in disguise).

T3RMINATED 5y ago

mRNA kills humans whats wrong with you

ChemSpider 5y ago

I agree, but I guess the challenge here is who are the 3 scientists to credit? Katalin Karikó is certainly one of them, but who are the other two? Weissman? Ugur Sahin? Özlem Türeci? Ingmar Hoerr? Noubar Afeyan? And then there is the weirdo guy that calls himself "mrna vaccine inventor"? I guess the committee needs another 1-2 years time to decide on that, with the benefit of hindsight.

benrapscallion 5y ago
If you look at the past awards, the Nobel committee prefers awarding those who published the earliest, fundamental results. Even if it was published in some obscure non-English language journal (see the artemisinin prize, for example).
OskarS 5y ago
They've given it to organizations before (Doctors Without Borders won in 1999). Give it to Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford University then. Or "front line COVID-workers" or something. Exactly who gets it is not the main point, the main point is rewarding this incredible achievement in medicine (both the science of it, but also the work in testing, manufacturing and delivering it to patients).
- ginko 5y ago
  >Doctors Without Borders won in 1999 That was the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm not sure if the same applies to the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- ChemSpider 5y ago
  > They've given it to organizations before No, never (You are confusing it with the Peace Nobel)
- evanb 5y ago
  MSF won the peace prize, not a science prize. Science prizes have not gone to organizations; if there were ever an opportunity to break that tradition it was with the discovery of the Higgs (the 2013 prize) and they didn't.
- icegreentea2 5y ago
  The Nobel Prize typically rewards basic research, not applied - look up who got the prize with respect polio vaccines if you're curious.
  - ChemSpider 5y ago
    Good point. In this case Katalin Karikó and Weismann are the frontrunners.
    - Arete314159 5y ago
      I've really been holding out hope for K. Karikó. She put up with such monumental struggles. Obviously the MRNA Covid vaccine is a huge "prize" and vindication for her, but I'd love to see even more. She deserves it.

ACS_Solver 5y ago

That's what I was hoping to see, an award to Karikó and Weissman for their mRNA research. I'm sure they'll get the Nobel within the next few years, but it would have been appropriate to award it now. The Nobel Committee doesn't rush the prizes, and they don't generally go to new research, but mRNA would be a very justified exception. We're currently in the worst pandemic in a century, and over the last ten months we've seen how the mRNA vaccines provide amazingly high protection against hospitalization and death.

causi 5y ago
I have to say, awarding it for mRNA research could easily save lives by turning a few of the vaccine-hesitant.
- rpmisms 5y ago
  How? Pretty sure scientists praising other scientists isn't what those people are looking for.
- jeltz 5y ago
  Turning the Nobel Prize political does not seem like a good thing even if the cause is noble this time.
- nairboon 5y ago
  I somewhat doubt that anti-vaxxers even care about the Nobel Prize.
- bacro 5y ago
  As I said in another comment, Egas Moniz won the Nobel prize in medicine for the lobotomy procedure for mentally-ill people!!

refurb 5y ago

It's not a popularity content. Nobel prizes are typically not given until several years after the work is complete and enough time has passed to fully appreciate the significance of it. I'd say it's a bit early for mRNA vaccines.

bacro 5y ago
Funnily enough, Egas Moniz was given the nobel prize in medicine for the lobotomy procedure. He claimed it helped the mentally ill. How scientific was that? XD
- ethanbond 5y ago
  Lobotomy is still used and it is still “scientific”… We luckily have better treatments available for almost every scenario, but it’s definitely still a tool in the toolbox. Same with electroshock therapy. We can be thankful for advancements without being dismissive of some of the less ideal steps along the way.
  - bacro 5y ago
    Saying that lobotomy was good for mentally-ill people seems not very good science to me. Some people agree that he should be de-Nobelized (which I agree): https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/aug/02/highereducation.comment https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/aug/02/highereduc... Disclaimer: I am portuguese.
  - siva7 5y ago
    There is a great quote from Norbert Wiener about the procedure: "[P]refrontal lobotomy ... has recently been having a certain vogue, probably not unconnected with the fact that it makes the custodial care of many patients easier. Let me remark in passing that killing them makes their custodial care still easier." I've studied medicine but i'm not aware that it is still taught as a "tool in the toolbox" in the modern medical community.
    - ethanbond 5y ago

pibechorro 5y ago

They can just take the nobel they censored from ivermectin and attribute it to the mrna shots, no? /S

thecopy 5y ago
Who are they and how did they censor?
- kibwen 5y ago
  The parent is sarcastically suggesting that there is a conspiracy to suppress ivermectin for use in treating covid. Ivermectin won the 2015 Nobel for its use in treating roundworm parasites. (Just to be maximally clear, covid is a virus, not a parasite.)
  - beerandt 5y ago
    Plenty of medicines are used for multiple things. Just because something is labeled X, doesn't preclude it from also being effective at Y. I'm not claiming that ivermectin is effective or not, but there is an incentive in preventing any FDA approved treatments from being used against COVID: emergency authorizations (including the current "full", "non-emergency" authorization that is contengent on the completion of ~12 additional detailed studies over the next 3 years) are only allowed by law if no FDA approved medicine is available as an alternative treatment. The fact that other, still experimental medications and vaccinations are allowed is proof that the FDA doesn't consider the current "non-emergency" vaccine authorization to be a "fully" authorized one. The full authorization of any new or existing medication would preclude all other experimental treatments from being used under emergency authorization.

satisfice 5y ago

I can only assume they are waiting until next year to be sure how the vaccine picture shakes out. MRNA vaccines are clearly safe and effective, and have saved countless lives, but with the dopey politics in Sweden about Covid, I am not really that surprised.

chucky 5y ago
As a Swede, I feel like I need to point out that this comment seems misinformed on so many levels: - the Nobel prize in medicine is not handed out by the Swedish government, so any dopey politics would not influence the Nobel prize. Rather, it is handed out by Karolinska Institutet (https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-nobel-assembly-at-karolinska-institutet/ https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-nobel-assembly-at-karol...) - Sweden's handling of Covid has not been particularly influenced by politics, it's been run by the government-appointed experts (that were appointed before Covid broke out), so the "dopey politics" referred to have never really been politically motivated. I don't think there's any reason for connecting Sweden's Covid response with who got the Nobel prize in Medicine this year.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

mongol 5y ago

I think it is very likely that it will be rewarded, just not this year. Some time need to pass, and even though the discovery should be rewarded, it also needs to be figured out who to reward it to. Probably there are more than 3 contenders.

bduerst 5y ago
I would bet money that there is one awarded in the next 10-15 years. Nobel prizes are notorious for not being reactionary, and waiting for the full effects of the work to be realized - i.e. GFP tagging awarded the nobel prize 16 years after it was first used. mRNA vaccination technology is just getting started, the impact of which will likely be on the level of penicillin.
- akiselev 5y ago
  It might take even longer, though the all encompassing impact of the pandemic might bring it to the forefront. Although there are outliers, at this point the average time from discovery to Nobel recognition is over 20 years for the most recent prizes: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/09/the-nobel-prize-delay-is-growing https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/09/the-nobe...

benrapscallion 5y ago

That's a chemistry prize and most likely will happen in the next 2-3 days. Typically technologies are rewarded in chemistry whereas basic science (physiology) is rewarded in medicine.