United States: Two scientists behind the mRNA COVID vaccine technology have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Hungarian scientist Professor Katalin Kariko and American physician and scientist Professor Drew Weissman will share the prize.
The Nobel Prize committee stated that, “the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.”
Vaccines help the immune system identify and combat viruses and bacteria.
The technology is used worldwide to protect millions from severe COVID-19. The mRNA technology is now being studied for various diseases, including cancer. Conventional vaccines use weakened or inactivated forms of the virus, bacteria, or fragments of the infectious agent. However, mRNA vaccines use a different approach.
During the COVID pandemic, both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines utilized mRNA technology.
Professors Kariko and Weissman first met in the early 1990s while working at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. During that time, mRNA was not widely recognized as a significant area of scientific research.
In 2005, Professors Kariko and Weissman created nucleoside base modifications that prevent the immune system from triggering inflammation against artificial mRNA, as per the statement.
Professor Kariko, previously a senior vice president at BioNTech in Germany, is now a professor at the University of Szeged in Hungary and also holds a position as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).
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