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Nobody thought it was possible. In mid-January 2020, Ugur Sahin told zlem Treci, his wife and decades-long research partner, that a vaccine against what would soon be known as COVID-19 could be developed and safely injected into the arms of millions before the end of the year. His confidence was built upon almost thirty years of research. While working to revolutionize the way that cancerous tumors are treated, the couple had explored a volatile and overlooked molecule called messenger RNA; they believed it could be harnessed to turn the human body into its own pharmacy. As the founders of BioNTech, they faced widespread skepticism from the scientific community at first; but by the time Sars-Cov-2 was discovered in Wuhan, BioNTech was prepared to deploy cutting edge technology and create the world's first approved inoculation for the coronavirus.
About the Author
Joe Miller is the author of five outdoors books, including "Backpacking North Carolina," "100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina," and "Let's GetHiking!" He is the founder of GetGoingNC!, which includes the GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! programs, both designed to get more people into the outdoors. He wrote about the outdoors for 17 years at The News & Observer in Raleigh, and continues ti write on the subject for GetGoingNC.com and other online outlets.
