Bret Weinstein on science: what the evidence says · JRE #2198
SUBJECT: SCIENCE
The short answer
Weinstein claims the Nobel Prize related to mRNA vaccines was actually given narrowly for a molecular 'hyperstabilization' trick, implying it was a consolation prize disguising deeper design flaws. The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman 'for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.' Their key 2005 finding was that replacing uridine with the modified nucleoside pseudouridine in synthetic mRNA suppressed the innate immune system's inflammatory recognition of the mRNA as foreign, while also increasing the efficiency of protein production from that mRNA.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
They've now given a Nobel Prize for the hyperstabilization process. They wanted to give a prize for the vaccines, and so they gave it for this narrow thing.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman 'for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.' Their key 2005 finding was that replacing uridine with the modified nucleoside pseudouridine in synthetic mRNA suppressed the innate immune system's inflammatory recognition of the mRNA as foreign, while also increasing the efficiency of protein production from that mRNA. This is a mechanistic finding about immune evasion and translation efficiency, not merely a physical 'stabilization' of the mRNA molecule, and the Nobel citation explicitly credits it as the discovery that enabled effective COVID-19 mRNA vaccines rather than framing it as a narrow or unrelated consolation award. Describing the prize as being for a narrow 'hyperstabilization process' distinct from the vaccines themselves misstates both the citation's wording and the substance of the discovery, which is broadly recognized by the scientific community as the direct scientific foundation of the mRNA vaccine platform.