In late January, a team of scientists reported an ominous discovery: the widely used COVID-19 drug molnupiravir might be spurring the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants1. Four of the authors work at prominent UK universities. But one has neither attended graduate school nor stepped foot in a research laboratory.

The outlier is Ryan Hisner, a school science teacher from rural Monroe, Indiana. He has attracted the attention of prominent virologists from all over the world for his uncanny ability to detect unusual mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 genome — mutations that might be a harbinger of the next variant to sweep the world.

Hisner is just one of a motley crew of self-taught ‘community scientists’ from around the globe who spend hours poring through genetic sequences to track SARS-CoV-2’s evolution. Among the ranks include science enthusiasts such as Hisner, retired researchers and anonymous sleuths who go only by their online usernames. Most do this work for no pay.