Geneticist Mary-Claire King on waiting for the Nobel call

Geneticist Mary-Claire King, whose BRCA1 and BRCA2 discoveries transformed cancer care, discussed the experience of being a perennial Nobel Prize contender ahead of this year's announcements, which begin Monday with the medicine prize. King, now 80 at the University of Washington, first learned she was under consideration about 20 years ago via a seminar invitation from the Karolinska Institutet. She described the process as a "tiny filter" with "stochastic features," noting she won't set an alarm for the 2 a.m. Pacific Coast announcement due to low yearly odds. Reflecting on her legacy, King emphasized the emotional impact of letters from women who avoided cancer through preventive surgeries, calling it a "secret handshake." She advised young scientists to pursue personally meaningful problems and advocated for subsidized childcare to achieve gender equity in research.