Nobel Prize reflects perseverance in scientific research

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to three researchers for their discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The undying perseverance that it took to find and cure this elusive virus is eloquently detailed in the peer-reviewed journal Viral Immunology.

Rodney S. Russell, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Viral Immunology, from Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, recounts his own research experience with HCV and tells the story of how the virus was discovered.

"The strongest theme I see in the field of HCV research is perseverance," says Dr. Russell. "Finding HCV was not easy, working with HCV was not easy, curing HCV was not easy, and even now, making an effective vaccine against HCV is proving not to be easy. What impresses me most about the thousands of scientists around the world who contributed to the study of this virus, even before it was discovered, was, and still is, their absolute unwillingness to quit."

More information:
Rodney S. Russell, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020: Perseverance Against a Pathogen, Viral Immunology (2020). DOI: 10.1089/vim.2020.0309

Provided by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc