Nobel Prize in Medicine for Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman for mRNA COVID Vaccine

Katalin Kariko, and Drew Weissman were chosen for the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2023 for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.

“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 Nobel Assembly said in its announcement.

Katalin Karik, is Professor at Szeged University and an Adjunct Professor at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew Weissman is a Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.

Since its inception in 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to scientists who have made the most important discoveries for the benefit of humankind.