Hungarian scientist Katalin Kariko and U.S. colleague Drew Weissman, who met in line for a photocopier before making groundbreaking discoveries concerning mRNA molecules, have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Their contributions have significantly accelerated vaccine development, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, the award-giving body, stated that the laureates’ advancements in mRNA research had a profound impact on human health by mitigating the risks associated with vaccine development.
Considered one of the highest honors in the scientific community, the Nobel Prize comes with a monetary award of 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1 million) for Kariko and Weissman to share.
Kariko, a former senior vice president at BioNTech and now an advisor, as well as a professor at the University of Szeged in Hungary and University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, played a critical role in the development of RNA protein replacement technology.
Weissman, a professor in vaccine research at the Perelman School, collaborated with Kariko in the development of nucleoside base modifications that prevent inflammation caused by lab-made mRNA. This breakthrough resolved a significant challenge in the therapeutic use of mRNA technology.
According to German biotech firm BioNTech, around 1.5 billion people worldwide have already received their mRNA vaccine developed in conjunction with Pfizer, making it the most widely-administered COVID-19 vaccine in the Western world.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) estimates that coronavirus vaccines have potentially saved nearly 20 million lives worldwide in just the first year of the pandemic. The contributions of Kariko and Weissman in 2005 demonstrated how adjustments to nucleosides could help the mRNA evade detection by the immune system.
COVID HEROES
As Rickard Sandberg, a member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute, stated, “This year’s Nobel Prize recognizes their basic science discovery that fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system and had a major impact on society during the recent pandemic.” Their groundbreaking research has saved countless lives, prevented severe cases of COVID-19, and facilitated the reopening of societies.
Messenger RNA, discovered in 1961, serves as a template for protein production in the body. The development of synthetic mRNA technology during the pandemic has revolutionized the field of medicine and allows for the production of therapeutic proteins, which was previously considered impossible.
The unique qualities of mRNA technology, working as software that instructs cells to produce specific proteins, distinguish it from traditional biotech medicines that rely on genetically modified living cells.
Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP
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