Scientist Drew Weissman's research is the basis for several vaccines being developed to fight the pandemic.

It is no exaggeration to say that Drew Weissman '81, MS '81, is among a handful of scientists whose research may save the world from COVID-19.

Now his findings and the system he developed for delivering mRNA into cells underpin two of the most promising candidates for a coronavirus vaccine, one being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and the other by Moderna.

Drew Weissman

Weissman, a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is also working with the government of Thailand on a COVID-19 vaccine for the developing world. It is expected to be more affordable and easier-to-produce than the vaccines being created by drug companies.

A biochemistry major at Brandeis, Weissman worked in professor Gerald Fasmans lab.

"He definitely gave me insights on how to develop hypotheses how to think about them, how to develop new lines of research," said Weissman, who wrote his master's thesis on acetylation of DNA, part of the process of gene regulation.

Messenger molecules, mRNA transport instructions from DNA to the ribosomes in our cells for the production of proteins.

In a traditional chickenpox, polio, flu or rabies vaccine, a weakened or killed version of the virus is injected, fooling the immune system into fighting the disease.

But manufacturing a virus is a lot more expensive than synthesizing mRNA. And it isnt necessary to create an entirely new vaccine for each disease using mRNA since the mRNA can be reprogrammed to fight the target illness.

Many researchers gave up on mRNA, but Weissman and Karik persisted. "We were getting interesting results, so they just kept leading us on," Weissman said.

They replaced one of mRNAs four chemical building blocks, a nucleoside called uridine, with a slightly modified nucleoside called pseudouridine. This enabled the mRNA to skirt the body's immune system.

In the late 2010s came several more major breakthroughs. The researchers used mRNA to immunize mice against genital herpes (which is caused by the herpes simplex virus), influenza, Zika and HIV.

If it works, a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine will spur human cells to produce the spike-shaped protein found on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the illness, and will trigger the immune system to produce protective antibodies.

Weissman is now focusing on an even more ambitious project developing a vaccine for all coronaviruses. Besides SARS-CoV-2, two other lethal varieties of coronavirus SARS and MERS have spread among humans in recent years.

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The Brandeis alum whose research may lead to a COVID-19 vaccine - Brandeis University