The Science Philanthropy Alliance congratulates two pioneers in medical research on their well-deserved Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, Drs. Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. The Nobel “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19” brought to fruition the vast potential that pioneering research in DNA first proffered as it uncovered how mRNA molecules translate DNA into proteins. DNA research, which began in the 1940s, led to this seminal moment in science today. In the years ahead, we will see greater breakthroughs in mRNA applications in treating and/or eradicating an array of devastating diseases.

It is precisely groundbreaking research like this that society and science must continue to encourage and to fund. It is the mission of the Science Philanthropy Alliance to engender a deeper understanding of discovery science in a variety of fields that will enable our partners—foundations and philanthropists—to contribute in ways that are both beneficial to society and to the planet, as well as rewarding to themselves.  Galileo Galilei reportedly said, “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”

We congratulate our colleagues on this momentous occasion and invite you to join us in our goal to advance basic scientific research through visionary philanthropy.

— Dr. France A.  Córdova
President, The Science Philanthropy  Alliance