Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year

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Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year

The mRNA technique pioneered by Kariko and Weissman is currently being used to the study and therapy of numerous diseases and conditions, including cancer, influenza, and heart failure.

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October 3, 2023 16:52 IST
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year

New Delhi: The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded on Monday to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their seminal work in creating extremely efficient mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

The Nobel Assembly stated that the laureates had contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern history due to their ground-breaking discoveries that had fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system.

mRNA vaccines offer the genetic molecules that direct cells what proteins to generate, simulating an infection and preparing the immune system for when it meets the actual virus, as opposed to conventional vaccinations, which employ a weakened virus or a critical portion of the virus’ protein.

Although this concept was first demonstrated in 1990, it wasn’t until the middle of the 2000s that Weissman and Kariko developed a technique to control a dangerous inflammatory response seen in animals after they were exposed to these molecules, paving the way for the development of safe human vaccines.

The mRNA technique pioneered by Kariko and Weissman is currently being used in the study and therapy of numerous diseases and conditions, including cancer, influenza, and heart failure.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were the first to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 using mRNA technology.

The Stockholm Nobel committee’s decision to award the duo this year was unusual as it has recognised studies from decades before.

Professor at Szeged University and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Katalin Kariko was born in Szolnok in 1955. On the other hand, Drew Weissman is the head of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations and a Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research.

For his pioneering work in collecting and analysing DNA from ancient bones, especially those of Neanderthals, Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo was given the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Scientists who have made major contributions to medicine for the betterment of humanity are honoured each year by the Nobel Assembly, a group of 50 professors from Karolinska Institute who meet to confer the renowned prize.

Each year in October, committees in Stockholm and Oslo disclose the Nobel Prize laureates.

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