(Hero image: Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach)

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their significant contributions to developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. These vaccines were crucial in combating the global pandemic that began in early 2020.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines were primarily based on weakened or killed viruses or individual viral components. However, these traditional methods required large-scale cell culture, limiting their rapid production during outbreaks. Researchers had long sought alternative vaccine technologies that did not rely on cell culture.

One promising approach was messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. mRNA serves as a template for protein production in our cells. Karikó and Weissman, in their pioneering work, realized that in vitro transcribed mRNA, which lacked certain chemical modifications present in mammalian cell-produced mRNA, triggered unwanted inflammatory responses. Introducing chemical modifications into mRNA significantly reduced inflammatory reactions and increased protein production, thus overcoming key obstacles to mRNA-based therapies.

Their groundbreaking discoveries paved the way for the rapid development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. These vaccines, encoding the SARS-CoV-2 surface protein and based on base-modified mRNA, demonstrated remarkable efficacy and were approved for emergency use in record time, saving countless lives and allowing societies to reopen.

Furthermore, the flexibility and speed of mRNA vaccine development have opened doors to using this technology for other infectious diseases and therapeutic purposes, including potential cancer treatments.

Katalin Karikó’s journey began in Hungary, where she conducted groundbreaking research on mRNA therapy despite facing initial challenges in securing research funding. On the other hand, Drew Weissman pursued immunological studies, ultimately leading to his collaboration with Karikó and their groundbreaking discoveries.

In summary, the Nobel Prize recognizes Karikó and Weissman’s fundamental contributions to developing mRNA vaccines, which have been instrumental in addressing one of the most significant global health crises in recent history. Their work has saved lives and revolutionized the future of vaccine development and mRNA-based therapies.

You can read Karikó’s and Weissman’s key publications related to the Nobel Prize here, here, and here.

References

• The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet. (2023, October 2). The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. The Nobel Prize. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/