October 2, 2023: The 2023 medicine and physiology Nobel winners, a new way to find your purpose and a rare solar eclipse coming up this month. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded today to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their transformative work that led to the mRNA vaccines against COVID. Karikó is a professor at the University of Szeged in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drew Weissman is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The two were jointly awarded the prize for advancements that changed the field of vaccine development and researchers' understanding of how messenger RNA (mRNA) interacts with the body's immune system.
What they did: Their research overcame major obstacles to the use of mRNA technology in the human body. Namely, the two figured out a way to prevent an inflammatory response by the body to the vaccine molecules that involves the production of harmful cytokines.
The impact: A study by the Commonwealth Fund found that two years of mRNA vaccines against COVID prevented more than 3 million deaths in the U.S. The success of the vaccines for COVID has inspired researchers, companies and government labs to pursue mRNA therapies for many infectious diseases, including influenza, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus 2, norovirus, rabies, malaria, tuberculosis, dengue, Zika, HIV, hepatitis C and the entire family of coronaviruses.
Read More: A Q&A with Karikó on how she came to work on mRNA, why it was well suited for COVID vaccines. | 8 min read
Weissman on how mRNA vaccine technology is poised to transform medicine. | 4 min read | | | Mindset is everything. A recent set of studies found that college liberal arts students taking math and science classes got better grades when they developed a growth mindset. While they were taking math and science classes, the students also completed reading and reflective writing activities that helped them think about their interests and passions as cultivated rather than as simply fixed. Students who described themselves as "not math or science people" performed better in those classes when they learned about growth mindsets. Why this matters: Contrary to the old adage "find your passion," this research suggests that passions, like interests, are developed. They often begin with a spark of curiosity caused by something in one's environment, and through repeated engagement, positive experiences and accrued knowledge, people can come to personally value that content or activity and internalize it.
What the experts say: Rather than there being a "fixed" passion out there for each of us, "the science tells us we should instead work toward loving what we do," write Paul A. O'Keefe and E. J. Horberg, both behavior researchers. "We might expand our horizons and become more creative and resilient as a result." | | | • It's logical for humans to feel anxious about artificial intelligence. If you do suffer from so-called AI anxiety, there are ways to alleviate your fears. | 8 min read | | | • About one in five U.S. counties are both socially vulnerable and highly exposed to natural disasters, which could exacerbate inequality, the Department of the Treasury says in a new report. | 3 min read | | | • People in the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Central and South America will get a lucky chance to see an annular solar eclipse, also known as the "ring of fire," on October 14th. | 4 min read | | | An annular solar eclipse photographed on May 20, 2012. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford | | | • The First Amendment protects not only speech but a broad range of expressive activities that can include painting, photography and musical and dramatic works. As AI becomes a widely-used tool for artists and creators, we need to determine if regulations of the technology will infringe on individual constitutional rights, writes John Villasenor, professor of law and electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. | 5 min read | | | Our health editor Lauren Young spoke to Nobel winner Weissman this morning after the prize was announced. He told her that he started reading Scientific American as a kid, which warmed the editors' hearts around here. Weissman's 2022 article was the first time he'd ever written about how he and Karikó came up with the mRNA vaccine technology. We're honored to have presented their groundbreaking work to our readers. | We'll be back tomorrow with more Nobel announcements (physics comin' up!). Send any comments or questions my way: newsletters@sciam.com. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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