Geneticist Mary-Claire King reflects on Nobel Prize consideration

Geneticist Mary-Claire King reflects on decades of Nobel Prize consideration, the impact of her landmark BRCA gene discoveries, and the realities of waiting for the annual award announcements, STAT reported. In a recent interview, King discussed her 1994 and 1995 findings at the University of California, Berkeley, which showed that breast and ovarian cancer could be hereditary through mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

The reality of the Karolinska Institutet visit

King recalled travelling to Stockholm roughly two decades ago for a seminar at the Karolinska Institutet, an invitation she soon understood was code for Nobel Prize consideration. She described the visit as an interview process involving members of the prize committee who tested her work and theories. The individual discussions ranged from totally fascinating with someone who totally understood the work … and then another person who was very open about being skeptical about how genetics could possibly solve such a problem, King told STAT.

Managing the midnight wait on the Pacific Coast

Now 80 and at the University of Washington, King does not set an alarm for the 2 a.m. prize announcements in her time zone. She noted that the chances of winning in any single year remain extremely low and the news will still be waiting by morning. Comparing past announcements, she pointed to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman’s mRNA vaccine research as an example of a highly predictable win because she saved the planet. Records compiled by nobelprize.org highlight various laureates’ experiences receiving the honor, including Martin Chalfie sleeping through his 2010 chemistry prize call in New York City and discovering the news by opening his laptop.

Global impact of hereditary cancer research

King’s identification of BRCA mutations provided actionable knowledge that allows women testing positive to pursue preventive surgeries such as mastectomies or the removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes. These interventions have reduced cancer mortality for thousands of women. Reflecting on this widespread impact, King told STAT that letters from women, husbands, fathers, and brothers across the globe create a massive, multilingual network of shared effort that acts like a secret handshake and sustains her through difficult research periods.