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- Published: October 3, 2023 16:52
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.
Watch the very moment the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman was announced.
Presented by Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Assembly.
See the full announcement here: https://t.co/KZSqC5qME4 #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/hvBvR5mk2k
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
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.
The findings by 2023 #NobelPrize laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman led to the approval of two highly successful mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020. The vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented severe disease in many more.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
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.
“For the 20 years that we worked together before anybody knew about us or cared it was literally the two of us sitting side by side at a bench and working together.
Usually at 3 or 5am we would be emailing each other with new ideas.”
– 2023 medicine laureate Drew Weissman on… pic.twitter.com/WF3hNLJbK3
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
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.
Congratulations to Katalin Karikó on her Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Katalin was awarded an honorary doctorate from Harvard this past May at Commencement. pic.twitter.com/mvxSkBarf6
— Harvard University (@Harvard) October 2, 2023
This year’s medicine laureate Drew Weissman (@WeissmanLab) was born in 1959 in Lexington, Massachusetts, USA.
He is the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.https://t.co/BdBbLNpudb#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/drxQmo0dQT
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
2023 #NobelPrize laureate in physiology or medicine Katalin Karikó (@kkariko) was born in 1955 in Szolnok, Hungary.
She is a professor at Szeged University and an adjunct professor at @Penn.https://t.co/Dzq0SNJOUD pic.twitter.com/elcZvwM84H
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
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.