 "Nobel Prizes for 2023 in Medicine or Physiology")
Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó on Monday were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking contributions to the development of highly effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.
The official statement said the groundbreaking effect of the Nobel laureates' discoveries on how mRNA interacts with the immune system, prompted the remarkable speed of vaccine development during one of the most crucial health emergencies in history.
Vaccination triggers the development of an immune reaction against particular pathogens, furnishing the body with a vital defence mechanism despite future exposure.
BREAKING NEWS
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
The 2023 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Y62uJDlNMj
Katalin Karikó: Overview
Katalin Karikó was born in 1955 in Szolnok, Hungary, and acquired her PhD from Szeged University in 1982. She held postdoctoral research at institutions including the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temple University in Philadelphia, and the University of Health Science in Bethesda.
More From This Section
In 1989, she was elected as Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, later taking on a leadership role at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals.
Since 2021, she has a post of Adjunct Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor at Szeged University.
Drew Weissman: Overview
Drew Weissman was born in 1959 in Lexington, Massachusetts, USA, and got his MD and PhD degrees from Boston University in 1987. He has done clinical training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health.
In 1997, Weissman founded his research group at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he presently serves as the Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations and the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research.
Prize money for Nobel prize winners
In Stockholm on December 10, the pair will get their award consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1 million cheque, from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony.
The laureates are invited to get their prizes at formal ceremonies on Dec. 10, the death anniversary of scientist Alfred Nobel who founded the prizes in his last will and testament. The honourable peace prize is handed out in Oslo, as per his wishes, while the other ceremony is held in Stockholm.
The Nobel Prize declarations are a profoundly anticipated occasion every October, with committees convening in Stockholm and Oslo to reveal the laureates.
More about Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medication
Until today, 113 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been given since 1901 of which 12 have been awarded to women. The youngest medicine laureate is Frederick G. Banting, who was given the 1923 Medicine Prize for the invention of insulin at 32 years of age.
The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo. Paabo, who coordinates the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany was recognized for his momentous work in extricating and analysing DNA from old bones, especially those of Neanderthals.
What is mRNA vaccine and how does this work?
A mRNA or messenger RNA is a molecule that contains the guidelines or recipe guiding the cells to build a protein utilising its normal machinery. To enter cells easily, mRNA goes inside a protective bubble called a 'Lipid Nanoparticle'. When inside, our cells read the mRNA as a bunch of instructions, developing proteins that coordinate with parts of the pathogen named antigens.
The immune system witnesses these foreign antigens as intruders dispatching protectors called antibodies and T-cells and training the immune system about the possible future risks. Thus, if and when the genuine virus goes along, the body could remember it sounding the caution to help protect against virus and illness.
