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In the early 1990s, Katalin Karikó was obsessed with an idea most of her fellow scientists dismissed: Could messenger RNA, or mRNA, a genetic molecule that helps cells synthesize proteins, be harnessed to create new kinds of treatments? (Caleb Watney, 3/19)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. needs to stop saying vaccines are “a personal choice.” They’re not. (Donald G. McNeil Jr., 3/19)

I started my medical career in the early 1990s as a vaccine nihilist. The immunization seminar during my residency was dry and uninspiring. I offered vaccines to my patients and was adherent to the routine schedules, but certainly did not go out of my way to encourage or cajole. I neglected to have my first child vaccinated against chickenpox; the scars are still present. (Jonathan Temte, 3/19)

Back when I was a kid, two of my two favorite food items were Coca-Cola and soft ice cream. I spent hot summer evenings standing on long lines at the local Carvel, waiting for my coveted cola float. It took me many years to kick my addiction to soft ice cream and to transition my craving for soda to sparkling water, which delivered the bubbles my palate was expecting without the sugar and food coloring. (Marc Siegel, 3/19)

The National Institutes of Health estimates that between one in 10,000 and one in 50,000 infants is born with CdLS, although researchers say that’s probably an underestimate. It’s a random genetic mutation, often in families with no history of the condition, which was the case for Caitlin. The first of the genes that cause CdLS was only identified in 2004, a few months after she was born. (Katherine J. Igoe, 3/19)