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South Korea mobilising 'all resources' for violence-free Yoon verdict
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Myanmar quake victim rescued after 5 days as aid calls grow
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Real Madrid coach Ancelotti tax fraud trial set to begin
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Warner showcases 'Superman' reboot, new DiCaprio film
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'Incredible' Curry scores 52 as Warriors down Grizzlies, Bucks edge Suns
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Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
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Nintendo's megahit Switch console: what to know
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Nintendo to unveil upgrade to best-selling Switch console
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China practises hitting key ports, energy sites in Taiwan drills
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Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes
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All eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP after ruthless Red Bull move
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'Image whisperers' bring vision to the blind at Red Cross museum
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Hay shines as New Zealand make 292-8 in Pakistan ODI
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Other governments 'weaponising' Trump language to attack NGOs: rights groups
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UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
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How a Brazilian chief is staving off Amazon destruction
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Meme politics: White House embraces aggressive alt-right online culture
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China launches military drills in Taiwan Strait
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US senator smashes record with 25-hour anti-Trump speech
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Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
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US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
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Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
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Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
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Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
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Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
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Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
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Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
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PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
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Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
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Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth
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Stock markets mostly advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
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US movie theaters urge 45-day 'baseline' before films hit streaming
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Saka scores on return as Arsenal beat Fulham
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Third-division Bielefeld shock holders Leverkusen in German Cup
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GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
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Tesla sales tumble in Europe in the first quarter
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No 'eye for an eye' approach to US tariffs: Mexico
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Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies
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Tiger's April Foolishness: plan to play Masters just a joke
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Myanmar quake toll passes 2,700, nation halts to honour victims

Drew Weissman, Nobel-winning mRNA pioneer
Drew Weissman's decades of research into mRNA technology paved the way for Covid-19 vaccines, finally earning a Nobel prize for the physician-scientist.
The 64-year-old University of Pennsylvania immunologist, who won the Nobel Medicine Prize along with long-time collaborator Katalin Kariko on Monday, is far from done.
His next quests include, among others, developing a vaccine against all future coronaviruses.
"There have been three (coronavirus) pandemics or epidemics in the past 20 years," Weissman told AFP recently, referring to the original SARS virus, MERS and Covid-19.
"You have to assume there's going to be more, and our idea was that we could wait for the next coronavirus epidemic or pandemic, and then spend a year and a half making a vaccine. Or we could make one now."
- Twin breakthroughs-
The world is now aware of the elegance of the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, that deliver genetic instructions to cells telling them to recreate the spike protein of the coronavirus, in order to trigger effective antibodies when they encounter the real thing.
But back when Weissman teamed up with Kariko in the 1990s, the research was considered a scientific dead-end, and working with DNA was considered a more promising avenue.
"We started working together in 1998, and that was without much funding and without much in the way of publications," he said.
In 2005, the pair found a way to alter synthetic RNA to stop it from causing a massive inflammatory response found in animal experiments.
"Just before our paper was published, I said 'Our phones are going to ring off the hook,'" he recalls.
"We sat there staring at our phones for five years, and they never rang!"
With a second big breakthrough in 2015, they found a new way to deliver the particles safely and effectively to their target cells, using a fatty coating called "lipid nanoparticles."
Both developments are part of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines today.
- Helping people -
Weissman grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts.
His father and mother, both since retired, were an engineer and dental hygienist, respectively.
"When I was five years old, I was diagnosed as a type-one diabetic, and back then it was testing urine and taking insulin shots a few times a day," he recalled, and this motivated him to pursue science.
He was educated at Brandeis University and completed an MD-Phd program in immunology at Boston University.
As a young fellow at the National Institutes of Health, he worked for several years in Anthony Fauci's lab on HIV research, before finally arriving at his long-time home Penn.
Weissman was a practicing doctor until a few years ago, and says it brings him great joy that his invention has helped save millions of lives.
"I'm a clinician scientist, my dream since starting college and medical school was to make something that helps people. I think I can say that I've done that. So I am incredibly happy," he said.
Beyond vaccines, mRNA technology is also being heralded for its potential across medicine.
Weissman's team is working on using RNA to develop a single-injection gene therapy to overcome the defect that causes sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disease that 200,000 babies are born with in Africa every year.
Significant technical challenges remain to ensure the treatment is able to correctly edit genes and is safe, but the researchers are hopeful.
Bone marrow transplant, an expensive treatment with serious risks, is currently the only cure.
O.Johnson--AMWN