The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology has been awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. The award was declared on October 2, 2023. They gained significant recognition for their discoveries on the nucleoside base modifications enabling the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, which are path-breaking. Nucleoside base modifications are made to impact the structure and function of nucleic acids, specifically the DNA and RNA. Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian biochemist and molecular biologist, and Drew Weissman is an American immunologist and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The collaborative work of these two pioneers of mRNA research has led to the development of a Nobel Award-winning discovery. Their contributions have been instrumental in combating the COVID-19 pandemic as early as possible.
What is mRNA technology?
The mRNA, or messenger Ribonucleic Acid technology, is simply an innovative technology used in the field of medicine for vaccine development, and it has contributed significantly to the advancement of vaccines against COVID-19. It plays a vital role in the body’s genetic code translation. Traditional development is considered to be too time- and cost-consuming when compared to mRNA technologies.
In layman’s words, mRVA technology is just like a program that teaches our cells how to make proteins. It is used in vaccine development to provide instructions to our immune system to fight viruses that cause disease. Both the COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer-BioTech and Moderna, used mRNA technology for their development. These were produced using cell-free systems, minimizing the risk of contamination and streamlining production.
Though a groundbreaking innovation, they still have some challenges regarding storage, equitable access, and safety. The vaccines developed by mRNA technology require extremely low temperatures for storage. That is, the storage temperature should be -25 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius for a stable condition for a period of six months and 30 days, respectively. There are still ongoing research studies on the long-term safety of these vaccines. More over, equitable access to the mRNA-developed vaccines must be ensured for the actual measurement of the success these vaccines bring to the general public.
The success of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic showed the great potential of this technology. There should also be further efforts made to enhance the studies on this technology. It can open doors to combating a wide range of diseases in the future.
Nobel and some history
First started in 1901, the Nobel Prize is an international award announced in October every year by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. It is based on the fortunes of the Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist Alfred Bernhard Nobel. The most important contribution of Nobel was the invention of dynamite. The Nobel Prize institution announces awards for eminent personalities in various fields for the outstanding discoveries they have made in their respective fields.
Last year, the award in the category of medicine or physiology was won by a Swedish geneticist named Svante Pääbo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. In the upcoming days, the Nobel Prize committee will announce the other winners of this prestigious award. Some of the other fields in which Nobel Prizes will be awarded are physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and so on.
