If mRNA was failing to impress the scientific establishment, its reception in the private sector was a different story. In the US, Karikó and Weissman’s work caught the attention of a brash group of postdoctoral researchers, professors, and venture capitalists. They had started a company whose name smushed the words modified and RNA: Moderna. In Germany, Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, a married couple with backgrounds in immunotherapy research, also saw huge potential in Karikó and Weissman’s work. They founded several companies, including one to research mRNA-based treatments for cancer:
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