A few decades later, two scientists in Pennsylvania decided to pursue what seemed like a pipe dream: using the molecule to command cells to make tiny pieces of viruses that would strengthen the immune system. The first began more than 60 years ago with the discovery of mRNA, the genetic molecule that helps cells make proteins. The vaccines were possible only because of efforts in three areas. And yet on this unpredictable, zigzagging path, the science slowly built upon itself, squeezing knowledge from failure. When the work got too crushing, some of them left it behind. The pharmaceutical companies harnessed these findings and engineered a consistent product that could be made at scale, partly with the help of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar program to hasten the development and manufacture of vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tests to fight the new virus.įor years, though, the scientists who made the vaccines possible scrounged for money and battled public indifference. But the breakthroughs behind the vaccines unfolded over decades, little by little, as scientists across the world pursued research in disparate areas, never imagining their work would one day come together to tame the pandemic of the century. Skeptics have seized on the rapid development of the vaccines - among the most impressive feats of medical science in the modern era - to undermine the public’s trust in them. And the manufacturers, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, say that mRNA technology will allow them to adapt the vaccines quickly, to fend off whatever dangerous new version of the virus that evolution brings next. They remain a marvel: Even as the Omicron variant fuels a new wave of the pandemic, the vaccines have proved remarkably resilient at defending against severe illness and death. The shots were developed at record speed, arriving just over a year after a mysterious pneumonia surfaced in China, while so much else - political feuds, public distrust and botched government planning - went wrong. Together with other chance breakthroughs that seemed insignificant at the time, it would lead eventually to the mRNA vaccines now protecting hundreds of millions of people from Covid-19. Yet the decision to study a colleague’s bad cold gave rise to critical discoveries. It was an impulse born more of convenience and curiosity than foresight, with little to no expectation of glory or profit.
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