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Drew Weissman, Jewish immunologist, wins Nobel Prize for his work on Covid vaccines
(JTA) — Drew Weissman, a Jewish scientist who identified the technology that made possible the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, has won the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine. Weissman shared the prize with Katalin Kariko, his Hungarian-born research partner at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kariko and Weissman’s story of collaboration became famous in 2020 when the technology they had started experimenting with more than two decades earlier allowed the swift creation effective vaccines against the crippling pandemic.
The pair first encountered each other while photocopying research papers in 1998 and realized they were working on related topics. Kariko, who had been a low-level researcher for years, was trying to prove that messenger RNA, the genetic material that tells cells what to do, could be programmed. Weissman, a physician who previously worked under Dr. Anthony Fauci, later the U.S. COVID czar, at the National Institutes of Health, was working on a vaccine against HIV.
They teamed up and, in 2005, published a paper showing that mRNA could in fact be altered to instruct cells to take certain actions. But their breakthrough was widely overlooked for decades until it became clear that it could be used to take action against COVID-19, which was killing hundreds of thousands of people and crippling the global economy. Their technology fueled both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which arrived with unusual speech and effectiveness in late 2020 and together have been administered millions of times.
“Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” the Nobel Prize committee said in announcing the award.
Weissman is the son of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother who grew up celebrating Jewish holidays at home, he told the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent in 2021. Together with his wife Mary Ellen, who grew up in a more observant Jewish home, he sent his children to Hebrew school at Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El, a Conservative synagogue in suburban Philadelphia. Mary Ellen Weissman is heavily involved in Momentum, which seeks to engage Jewish women with Israel, and together with her husband has spoken to and donated to the organization.
Drew Weissman told the Exponent that his personal religious outlook was not specifically Jewish. ““I’m more of a Daoist, in that point of view that I think that Earth, nature is the supreme — the main component of life,” he said. “And that’s what needs to be celebrated.”
About a quarter of Nobel laureates in medicine over time have had one or more Jewish parents, according to Jinfo.org, a website that meticulously documents the Jewish lineage of prize winners across all fields. The site, which was updated swiftly to include Weissman, says that nearly 40% of U.S. Nobel laureates in medicine have been Jewish.
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The post Drew Weissman, Jewish immunologist, wins Nobel Prize for his work on Covid vaccines appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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El Al Says to Start Rescue Flights Out of Israel Starting on Monday, After Getting 25,000 Applications
FILE PHOTO: Aircraft belonging to Israel’s state carrier El Al and Israir among other airlines, are parked at Larnaca International Airport, in Larnaca, Cyprus June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
Israeli airline El Al said it would resume flights out of Tel Aviv airport on Monday, as the government began to allow limited “rescue” flights in the midst of the Middle East conflict and US bombing of Iran.
El Al said it had received 25,000 applications for flights out of Israel since it opened a web site for requests on Saturday, although government rules will limit flights to 50 passengers each, it added in a Sunday statement.
The post El Al Says to Start Rescue Flights Out of Israel Starting on Monday, After Getting 25,000 Applications first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Rubio’s comments on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” show came after Iran’s Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas flows.
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” said Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser.
“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”
Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment.
US officials said it “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites using 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. The strikes mark an escalation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
Tehran has vowed to defend itself. Rubio on Sunday warned against retaliation, saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
He added that the US is prepared to talk with Iran.
The post US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz first appeared on Algemeiner.com.