Streptomycin

• The 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine will go to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discovery that modifying mRNA – a form of genetic material your body uses to produce proteins – could reduce unwanted inflammatory responses and allow it to be delivered into cells.
• We asked André O. Hudson, a biochemist and microbiologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology, to explain how basic research like that of this year’s Nobel Prize winners provides the foundations for science – even when its far-reaching effects won’t be felt until years later.

What is basic science?

• Basic research, sometimes called fundamental research, is a type of investigation with the overarching goal of understanding natural phenomena like how cells work or how birds can fly.
• Researchers sometimes conduct basic research with the hope of eventually developing a technology or drug based on that work.

What are some basic science discoveries that went on to have a big influence on medicine?

• The 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine acknowledges basic science work done in the early 2000s.
• Another example is the discovery of antibiotics, which was based on an unexpected observation.
• Early discoveries start from a basic observation, asking the simple question of “How?” Only later are they parlayed into a medical technology that helps humanity.

Why does it take so long to get from curiosity-driven basic science to a new product or technology?

• The mRNA modification discovery could be considered to be on a relatively fast track from basic science to application.
• The importance of their discovery came to the forefront with the pandemic and the millions of lives they saved.
• Most basic research won’t reach the market until several decades after its initial publication in a science journal.
• Likewise, because the return on investment for basic research often isn’t clear, it can be a hard sell to support financially.

Why is basic science important?

• For me, the most critical reason is that basic research is how we train and mentor future scientists.
• In an academic setting, telling students “Let’s go develop an mRNA vaccine” versus “How does mRNA work in the body” influences how they approach science.
• Almost every scientist is trained under a basic research umbrella of how to ask questions and go through the scientific method.

What is a common misconception about basic science?

• In the short term, the worth of basic research can be hard to see.
• But in the long term, history has shown that a lot of what we take for granted now, such as common medical equipment like X-rays, lasers and MRIs, came from basic things people discovered in the lab.
• As long as curiosity is a part of humanity, we’re always going to be seeking answers.