The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Hungarian scientist Katalin Kariko and American scientist Drew Weissman for their discovery of nucleoside base modification to develop an effective mRNA vaccine to prevent Covid-19.
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| The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honors two scientists, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman. (Source: Reuters) |
On the afternoon of October 2, in Stockholm, Sweden, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute announced the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The Nobel Assembly's statement emphasized that the research of the two scientists above has contributed to promoting vaccine production at an unprecedented speed during the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the greatest threats to humanity in modern history.
According to the plan, the two scientists Kariko and Weissman will attend the official Nobel Prize award ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm and receive the prize worth 11 million Swedish Crowns (986,000 USD), an increase of 1 million Swedish Crowns compared to last year.
According to the Nobel Assembly's press release, Professor Kariko has found a way to prevent the immune system's response to lab-made mRNA vaccines - which is the biggest obstacle to any treatment using mRNA technology.
In 2005, she and Weissman discovered how to modify nucleosides, the molecular building blocks of mRNA, to create hybrid mRNAs that could enter cells without alerting the body's defenses.
The announcement also highlighted the groundbreaking findings of Kariko and Weissman, noting that their work has fundamentally changed the understanding of how mRNA interacts with the human immune system.
The technology has also shown promising results against other diseases such as HIV, cancer and genetic disorders.
Scientist Kariko was Senior Vice President at the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech until 2022 and has been an advisor to the company since then. She also teaches at the University of Szeged in Hungary and is an adjunct professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
She has been honored with the Princess of Asturias Award, the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Biotechnology, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences…
Meanwhile, scientist Weissman is a professor specializing in vaccine research at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Ms. Kariko and Mr. Weissman are 2 of 3 scientists awarded the VinFuture Global Science and Technology Prize in Hanoi in January 2022 for their research on mRNA that has helped save millions of lives.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 113 times since 1901, with 12 women receiving the prize.
In 2022, this prestigious award went to Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo, in honor of his discoveries related to the DNA sequence of apes and human evolution.
Notably, Mr. Svante Pääbo is the son of scientist Sune Bergström, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1982.
In history, the youngest Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine was Canadian scientist Frederick G. Banting, who received the prize in 1923 at the age of 32, for his discovery of the pancreatic hormone insulin to treat diabetes.
The oldest recipient of this award was American doctor Peyton Rous, who received the award in 1966 at the age of 87, for his research into the discovery that certain viruses can cause cancer.
The Medicine Prize kicks off the 2023 Nobel week. The next prizes to be announced include the Nobel Prize in Physics (October 3), the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (October 4) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (October 5).
The Nobel Peace Prize is the only award to be announced in Oslo, Norway, on October 6. Meanwhile, the Nobel Economics Prize will close the 2023 Nobel week on October 9.
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