Scientists Behind mRNA COVID Vaccines Win Nobel Prize
Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on October 2 for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. The technology was critical in slowing the pandemic — and is also being studied to fight cancer and other diseases.
Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman won the prize for contributing "to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health," according to the panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm.
The panel said the pair's "groundbreaking findings ... fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system."
Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain's University of East Anglia, described the mRNA vaccines made by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna Inc. as a "game changer" in shutting down the coronavirus pandemic, crediting the shots with saving millions of lives.
"We would likely only now be coming out of the depths of COVID without the mRNA vaccines," Hunter said.
Karikó, 68, is the 13th woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine. She said her husband was the first to pick up the early morning call, giving it to her to hear the news.
And Karikó was the one to break the news to Weissman, since she got in touch before the Nobel committee could reach him.
Both scientists thought it was a joke at first, until they watched the official announcement.
"I was very much surprised," Karikó said. "But I am very happy."
Before COVID-19, mRNA vaccines were already being tested for diseases like influenza and rabies — but the pandemic brought more attention to this approach, Karikó said. Now, scientists are trying out mRNA approaches for cancer, allergies and other gene therapies, Weissman said.
The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor — $1 million — from a bequest left by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The winners are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
