Covid-19 vaccine scientists, scientists who discovered how to manipulate neuronal activation with light beams, and a researcher whose work and leadership influenced medical science all received the Lasker Awards for 2021 on Friday.

Mary and Alfred Lasker are the namesakes of the prizes. As an advocate for medical research, Mrs. Lasker is frequently referred to as the “father of modern advertising.” As a result of its prestige, many Lasker Award winners have gone on to earn the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Each category’s winners receive $250,000 in total. The coronavirus pandemic prevented the prizes from being presented in 2020.

An executive at BioNTech, Katalin Kariko, and Dr. Drew Weissman, a vaccine researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, shared this year’s Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

In 2005, Dr. Kariko and Dr. Weissman triumphantly revealed a surprise result they had found about messenger RNA, also known as mRNA, which instructs cells to produce proteins. When researchers injected mRNA to cells, they discovered that the cells immediately degraded it. However, a small alteration to the mRNA could prevent this. For a brief period of time, cells might be prompted to produce any protein they desired by introducing the altered mRNA.

When it was first developed in the 1980s, scientists were largely indifferent because they assumed there were better ways to immunize.

In Immunity, their research was published in 2005 after it had been rejected by several other journals. The discovery appeared to be esoteric at first glance.

For their research, Dr. Weissman and Dr. Kariko applied for grant funding. Rejected were their applications. Two biotech businesses, Moderna in the US and BioNTech in Germany, eventually took note of the effort. mRNA vaccines were investigated by the corporations, but none of them made it out of clinical testing for a long period of time.

Coronavirus then appeared. Moderna and Pfizer-vaccines BioNTech’s use the alteration discovered by Dr. Kariko and Dr. Weissman.

Among the many honors bestowed upon the two researchers is the $3 million Breakthrough Prize and the $1 million Albany Prize for their discovery.

One of Dr. Kariko’s biggest accomplishments is helping to design a vaccination that has saved countless lives.

The fact that so many individuals were helped was enough for her, she said.

It is important to note that while Dr. Weissman and Dr. Kariko are being recognized, their work on the mRNA vaccines was far more extensive than simply altering mRNA.

It’s important for the public to understand that this vaccination was developed over the course of 10 months, not merely as an isolated trial. Although Kati and I did the modified mRNA and are receiving the accolades, the vaccinations are based on the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of other scientists over the past two decades.

The Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award went to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University of Berlin, and Dieter Oesterhelt of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany.

Professor Deisseroth and his students conducted what appeared to be a remarkable experiment in 2007 Blue light was shone through an optical fiber placed in the brains of rats. Neurons controlling the movement of whiskers were targeted. The fur on his chin fluttered. With a focused beam of light, Dr. Deisseroth was able to regulate the actions of rats.

However, that experiment was the result of years of hard work..

Dr. Oesterhelt’s interest in salt marsh microorganisms began in the late ’60s, when he began to study them. In 1971, Dr. Oesterhelt discovered that the bacteria are enclosed in a purple membrane that carries a light-sensing protein. The protein pumps ions into the cell one by one in reaction to light. That was interesting because neurons open a tunnel in their membranes that allows ions to enter when they fire.

When Dr. Hegemann, a scientist investigating algae that can sense and swim toward light, disclosed that algae employ a protein similar to the one in Dr. Oesterhelt’s bacteria, the field took another stride forward. The light activates an enzyme that causes the algae’s membrane to open, allowing ions to pass through.

By opening ion channels, these proteins could turn light into electrical activity, according to Dr. Deisseroth. In order to test this, he began by introducing genes for light-sensing proteins into nerve cells. One of the first investigations to show that light might be used to modulate neuron firings was the experiment with rat whiskers.

New therapies. Pfizer and Merck received FDA approval for the first two Covid-19 tablet therapies within a few days of each other. In order to get the new medications, those Covid users who are at greater risk of becoming seriously unwell will need a prescription from a doctor.

Scientists around the world are now utilizing light-sensing proteins that they add to cells to activate and silence neurons in animals to examine a wide range of behaviors, from hunger and thirst to fear and parenting, by activating and deactivating neurons.

Deisseroth, a psychiatrist, said in an interview this week that the work “demonstrates the value of pure basic science that is not necessarily guided by an immediate impact,” which he sees as a positive message for the public.

There was no way anyone could have foreseen that algae and bacteria investigations would lead to the discovery of how particular neurons govern specific actions. When it comes to treating psychiatric conditions like bipolar disorder, Dr. Deisseroth remarked, “you can design any kind of therapy.”

The Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science went to David Baltimore, who is currently an emeritus professor at Caltech.

In 1970, Dr. Baltimore made a groundbreaking discovery in molecular biology. The Central Dogma, a rule proposed by Francis Crick, was incorrect. According to the study, a cell’s information flowed solely in one direction: from DNA to RNA, which in turn drove the production of proteins. As a result, Dr. Baltimore discovered that RNA to DNA information transmission was possible.

Dr. Baltimore shared a Nobel Prize in 1975, when he was barely 37 years old.

Those were just the beginnings of his long and distinguished career, which included groundbreaking cancer and immunology research as well as leadership roles in scientific organizations. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Rockefeller University, and Caltech were all founded by Dr. Baltimore.

During the AIDS crisis, Dr. Baltimore served as co-chair of a National Academy of Sciences committee that was essential in promoting research and a public health initiative.

One of his biggest joys comes from his work in basic research and the impact it has had on medicine and society, he said in an interview this week.

Basic science has allowed me to make a significant influence on cancer, AIDS, and immunology. There are so many benefits to this,” Dr. Baltimore stated. In this way, it validates the saying that basic science is the seed corn of societal influence..”