When Sonia Vallabh and her husband, Eric Minikel, applied to Harvard Medical School, their applications showed a sense of urgency that shocked the admissions board. They needed to learn all they could about prions, mysterious proteins in our bodies—and they needed to learn it quickly.

For the couple in their early 30s, the stakes were particularly high. In 2010, Vallabh had watched her mother die of a rapid, mysterious illness that turned out to be a rare genetic prion disease called fatal familial insomnia, or FFI. After medical tests, Vallabh received the news that she inherited the same genetic mutation, and unless a treatment or cure is developed, she will very likely suffer the same fate around the age of 50. It will start with sleeping troubles, then spiral into complete insomnia, which will lead to mental and physical deterioration, and ultimately, death.

While devastated, the pair had a choice. They could wait, hope, pray for a scientific discovery—or help make one. They chose the latter. Together, they abandoned their careers in law and city planning to become scientists.

The field needs them. As Joel Watts, an assistant professor of biochemistry who oversees a prion disease-research lab at the University of Toronto, told The Atlantic, “Big pharma isn’t exactly looking to invest money into a disease that affects so few people.” It’s the same for all rare diseases.

Vallabh and Minikel are now both Harvard biology PhD students, working side-by-side at Stuart Schreiber’s lab at the Broad Institute, researching potential treatments. They are establishing a new technique to grow, measure, and study prions, which will allow them to understand the impact of Vallabh’s mutation on prion behavior.

In Reddit’s Science community, the couple answered questions about their unlikely journey in an AMA.

How did Harvard react to your reason for applying?

How did you decide to become scientists and what’s the timeframe for the quest?

What’s your goal?

Why does the disease wait until 50 to manifest?

How do you stay objective throughout testing when your life is on the line?

How optimistic are you?

What are your days like?

How has everything affected your relationship?

See the full discussion in the original AMA