Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 • Hacker News Board

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#11

Post by MontyCarloHall » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:24 AM UTC

OskarS wrote: post #2

Seems to me like maybe a more worthy recipient of this prize might be the vaccines that are currently saving hundreds of million of people from dying in the worst pandemic in a century? You know, the miracle vaccines that were developed many times faster than any other vaccine in history? The ones that (despite being perfectly safe, effective, and arguably the greatest achievement in medicine since antibiotics) are s…

In general the Nobel committee really dislikes awarding scientific prizes to applied research. People have been pointing out for years that they ignore this at their own detriment [0].

[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/nmat2602

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#12

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:25 AM UTC

mlang23 wrote: post #6

OskarS wrote: post #2

Seems to me like maybe a more worthy recipient of this prize might be the vaccines that are currently saving hundreds of million of people from dying in the worst pandemic in a century? You know, the miracle vaccines that were developed many times faster than any other vaccine in history? The ones that (despite being perfectly safe, effective, and arguably the greatest achievement in medicine since antibiotics) are s…

I stopped taking the nobel prize seriously when they awarded the peace nobel prize to Obama.

[deleted]

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#13

Post by ChemSpider » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

siva7 wrote: post #3

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.

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.

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#14

Post by chrisweekly » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:28 AM UTC

Mods: title typo "Discoveres" -> Discoverers

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#15

Post by OskarS » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:33 AM UTC

jeltz wrote: post #9

mlang23 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped taking the nobel prize seriously when they awarded the peace nobel prize to Obama.

Isn't that exactly why they should not give a prize for mRNA vaccines. The Norwegian Nobel Committee (the people who hand out the peace prize) has a history of handing out the prize too early (Obama, Arafat, etc) while the Swedish Research Council are much more cautious when handing out prizes.

I don't think it's too early to say that the vaccines deserve it, given what they have already accomplished.

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#16

Post by ACS_Solver » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:35 AM UTC

siva7 wrote: post #3

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.

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.

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#17

Post by docdocgoose » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:35 AM UTC

I appreciate that some Nobel selections, like this one, are for core biological discoveries rather than hot topics.

How our bodies perceive / interface with the world is fundamental to our human experience: Pain, temperature, positioning. And that these perceptions can be significantly modulated by how our bodies process them (eg pain).

Not only is their actual body of work impressive, as it cuts across so many methodologies to get a glimpse at “how things work,” their discoveries opened up fields for others.

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#18

Post by OskarS » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:36 AM UTC

ChemSpider wrote: post #13

siva7 wrote: post #3

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.

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.

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).

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#19

Post by causi » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:46 AM UTC

ACS_Solver wrote: post #16

siva7 wrote: post #3

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.

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'…

I have to say, awarding it for mRNA research could easily save lives by turning a few of the vaccine-hesitant.

Re: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

#20

Post by evanb » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 11:50 AM UTC

OskarS wrote: post #18

ChemSpider wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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).

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.