The researchers’ discoveries saved many lives, according to the award’s justifications.
“The discoveries of Katalin Carrico and Drew Weissman have radically changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, contributing to the rapid development of vaccines against one of the greatest threats to human health in the modern era,” the Nobel Assembly explains.
As a result he lost More than 13 billion coronavirus doses have been administered worldwide.
According to Thomas Perelmann, who made the presentation, the researchers were “blown away” by the award.
He got hold of Drew Wiseman before the award winners were announced.
The award was particularly important for Katalin Carrico, because according to Thomas Perelmann, she did not receive the recognition she deserved during her research work.
She had to leave her position but continued to believe in her ideas, moving from Hungary to the United States and eventually joining Biontech, which developed one of the mRNA vaccines during the pandemic.
Kariko found it hard to believe this was true When the Nobel Assembly arrived at Karolinska Institutet on Monday morning.
– I’m overwhelmed. I couldn’t see the number called, but then we looked at it more closely and saw that it looked correct, she told TT.
-I am very happy for me, my family and my colleagues.
Kariko says she wants to thank those who opposed her, because it made her work harder and not give up.
– I would not be here if it were not for my dismissal from the previous position I held. I want to thank those who tried to make my life miserable, because without them I wouldn’t be here today.
Methods developed by the researchers It makes it possible to use individual virus components rather than whole viruses, parts of the virus’s genetic code, to produce protein vaccines that stimulate the formation of antibodies that block the life cycle of the virus, the Nobel Assembly writes in an explanatory text.
– The Nobel Prize could make people who are hesitant about taking the Covid vaccine more inclined to take it, says Uli Campi of the Nobel Committee.
fact.The scientists behind the mRNA vaccine
Catalin Carrico
Born in 1955 in Hungary. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Szeged in 1982. Since 2021 she has been a Professor at the University of Szeged and an Assistant Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Source: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Drew Wiseman
He was born in 1959 in the United States of America. in Immunology and Microbiology in 1987 at Boston University. He is a professor of vaccine research at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation.
Source: Royal Academy of Sciences and Boston University.
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