Scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman, who won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries enabling the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, speak during a news conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 2, 2023.
Reuters
The award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman was not a surprise because it was their work that facilitated the development of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. The pandemic was the most serious medical threat to humanity in recent times, and the Nobel Committee has done well to recognise the contribution made by two scientists which helped build the most decisive weapon against it. The Nobel Prize was conceived and intended to be awarded to those who would “during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The Covid vaccines certainly did that and saved the lives of millions of people. The two were awarded for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines. Their work has also led to development of vaccines against flu, herpes, malaria, etc.
Their research also stands out for two other reasons. One is they proved again that important discoveries usually result from collaboration between two disciplines. Kariko is a biochemist and Weissman is an immunologist. Their joint effort led to the use of mRNA, which are messengers that carry instructions from DNA to the cells on manufacturing specific proteins, as an agent that could help the body develop its own cures. Their research was also remarkable for the determination and persistence with which they pursued their idea. When they started their research in the 1990s, the scientific establishment had little faith in their idea. It was considered impossible to introduce mRNA into the human body without being rejected and attacked by the body’s immune system. This was the case in animal experiments. But the two believed that mRNA modified in a specific way would not be attacked by the body. They proved that in 2005 but its significance was not realised even then. The time for practical application of the idea came only in 2020. The mRNA story ran the course of many other scientific ideas which are considered impossible in the beginning but are pursued by tenacious researchers to finally turn out to be important milestones.
The award is also remarkable because Katalin Kariko overcame many personal challenges to make her Nobel mark. She is one of the 13 women who have won the Nobel Prize for Medicine so far and also one of the 62 women who have won any Nobel Prize. She came from a poor family in a small Hungarian town and had migrated to the US, hiding the little money she had in her daughter’s teddy bear. She had once been demoted by her university for not bringing funding to her research. Hers is also a story of aspirations, faith in oneself, and success.