The Nobel Prize 2023 in Physiology or Medicine was jointly 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, The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet said on October 2.
"The discoveries by the two Nobel Laureates were critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic that began in early 2020. Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times," the institute said in the press release.
Here are a few important things you need to know about the game-changing discovery:
Katalin, Drew saw the potential in mRNA during the early 1990s
During the early 1990s, while working as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Katalin realized the potential of mRNA as a therapeutic. She faced difficulties in convincing research funders of the significance of her project. She joined with Drew on this study soon.
Drew Weissman, Katalin Karikó worked together at the University of Pennsylvania
During this time, she met Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew had interest in dendritic cells that have immense significance in immunity and help in the activation of vaccine induced immune response. " Spurred by new ideas, a fruitful collaboration between the two soon began, focusing on how different RNA types interact with the immune system," the offiical statement reveals.
15 years ago they found a way to modify mRNA
After a chance meeting while photocopying research papers, Katalin and Drew started investigating mRNA as a potential therapeutic. In 2005, while working at Penn Medicine, Katalin and Drew together found a way to modify mRNA. The findings were published in the journal Immunity, titled "Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA."
Drew is currently working on a pan-coronavirus vaccine
As per the information available on the website of the University of Pennsylvania Drew and his team are currently at work on a pan-coronavirus vaccine, a universal flu vaccine, and a vaccine to prevent herpes.
"We worked when nobody knew or cared about RNA"
For the 20 years that we’ve worked together before anybody knew what RNA is, or cared, it was the two of us literally side by side at a bench working together. And talking and discussing new data. We both have sleep disturbances so usually around three to five a.m. we would be emailing each other with new ideas. It was always stimulating; we were always talking about science," Drew told Adam Smith from Nobel Prize.
Multiple awards
The duo has been recognized with several awards like the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the Breakthrough Prize, the Princess of Asturias Award, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the VinFuture Grand Prize, and the Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science.
