Nobel Prize Awarded To Mrna Covid-19 Vaccines Researcher

In a groundbreaking recognition of their contributions, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their pivotal work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which laid the foundation for the development of revolutionary Covid-19 vaccines. The Nobel committee praised the duo, who had been considered front-runners for the prestigious accolade, for their role in "contributing to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times." The mRNA vaccines, including those produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, received regulatory approval in December 2020 and, alongside other Covid-19 vaccines, have played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and preventing severe disease. Katalin Kariko, 68, and Drew Weissman, 64, colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, had previously received numerous accolades for their research, including the prestigious Lasker Award in 2021, often seen as a precursor to the Nobel Prize. This year, the Nobel committee in Stockholm broke with its tradition of recognizing decades-old research to honor work that has already had a profound impact. While the prizewinning research dates back to 2005, it was the mRNA technology that became the backbone of Covid-19 vaccines. Unlike conventional vaccines, which employ weakened viruses or viral proteins, mRNA vaccines provide genetic instructions to cells, instructing them to produce specific proteins, thus simulating an infection and priming the immune system for future encounters with the actual virus. Although the concept was initially demonstrated in 1990, it wasn't until the mid-2000s that Weissman and Kariko developed a technique to control the potentially dangerous inflammatory response observed in animal trials. This breakthrough paved the way for the safe development of mRNA-based human vaccines. The recognition is particularly gratifying for Katalin Kariko, who persevered in relative obscurity for years, struggling to convince her superiors about the importance of "messenger ribonucleic acid" research. In a poignant moment, she revealed that her late mother used to listen to Nobel Prize announcements in hopes of hearing her daughter's name, saying, "She might be listening from above." Kariko's journey in mRNA research was marked by challenges, including grant rejections and skepticism from her academic institution. She believed that mRNA held immense potential for treating diseases that required enhanced protein production, such as post-stroke brain repair, at a time when the scientific community was predominantly focused on using DNA for gene therapy. Overcoming the hurdle of inflammatory responses in animal experiments, Kariko and Weissman identified a crucial flaw in the synthetic mRNA molecule and devised a solution by modifying it. Their breakthrough paper was published in 2005. In 2015, they made another significant advancement by developing a novel delivery method using "lipid nanoparticles," which protected the mRNA from degradation and facilitated its precise placement within cells. These breakthroughs formed the basis for the Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Their pioneering mRNA technology is now being explored for the development of treatments for various diseases and conditions, including cancer, influenza, and heart failure. Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman will receive the Nobel Prize, comprising a diploma, a gold medal, and a $1 million prize, during a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, commemorating the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896, the founder of the Nobel Prizes. Notably, Kariko's family has already earned a gold medal in the form of her daughter, Susan Francia, a two-time Olympic gold medalist rower.