When the Nobel Prizes are announced next week, the winning biomedical discovery is certain to be showered with a ton of hype. And that might be a problem. The path from a brilliant lab discovery to an actual medication is long and winding — and sometimes, high expectations can backfire.
Take the roller coaster ride of RNA interference, a Nobel-winning technology that received heaps of accolades and billions of dollars in funding, only to stumble badly when the science didn’t deliver actual drugs – at least, not fast enough for investors.
