Half a century of advancements in biomedical science paved the way for today's powerful weight-loss drugs like Ozempic—so what was that journey like for the scientists involved? Joel Habener of Massachusetts General Hospital and Svetlana Mojsov of The Rockefeller University, who are being honored with the prestigious Lasker Award for their role in the research, spoke to AFP about how they made the discoveries that changed the way we think about weight. The pair will share the award—often considered a predictor of future Nobel success—as well as an honorarium of $250,000 with Lotte Bjerre Knudsen of Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic. Early molecular biology Obesity has escalated into a global health crisis, affecting 900 million people worldwide—including over 40 percent of Americans and nearly a quarter of Europeans.
But back in the mid-1970s, when Habener, now 87, began his career as a physician-scientist, his curiosity was focused on diabetes. He was particularly interested in the pancreatic hormone glucagon, known for raising blood sugar levels—the opposite effect of insulin, which was already used as a treatment for diabetes. By understanding and potentially modulating glucagon's effects, Habener believed he could uncover new ways to manage diabetes.
To pursue this, he turned to the emerging field of molecular biology, aiming to isolate and clone the gene that encodes glucagon. Fortuitous turn to fish But he quickly hit a roadblock: the US National Instit.