Research on mRNA vaccine to prevent Covid wins the 2023 Nobel Prize in Biomedicine

Research on mRNA vaccines to prevent Covid-19 by scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Biomedicine.

At the ceremony taking place at 12:00 on October 2 (Stockholm time, ie 16:45 - Hanoi time), the representative of the Swedish Academy announced the name of the above research. Katalin Kariko , a Hungarian national, is a female professor of molecular biochemistry, and Drew Weissman is a professor, doctor, and infectious disease specialist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (USA).

Two scientists win the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

"With their groundbreaking discoveries, the two scientists have made an important contribution to vaccine development at an unprecedented speed during the pandemic," the Nobel Council said.

According to Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Council, the two scientists were " overwhelmed by the news of receiving the prize". Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam, member of the judging panel, commented that the work of professors Kariko and Weissman was "especially important in the early stages of the pandemic".

Announced in 2005, their discovery paved the way for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Covid-19. This research also shows potential against other diseases such as HIV, cancer, autoimmune and genetic diseases.

Before that, Weissman and Kariko worked together for two decades in the lab to develop mRNA technology. The first obstacle is that mRNA molecules are very fragile and will be immediately destroyed by cells when introduced into the body. This destructive process also causes a harmful inflammatory response.

To solve this problem, the two scientists made some modifications to the mRNA, causing it to no longer cause inflammation and create more protein. From there, RNA is safe to treat without causing cytokine reactions, toxicity or side effects.

At that time, infused vaccines worked by introducing a virus or part of a virus into the body, training the immune system to remember and attack invading pathogens. Instead, mRNA vaccines act as encoded instructions that allow cells to produce their own viral proteins. Professors Weissman and Kariko believe that this mechanism simulates the disease better, creating a stronger immune response than traditional vaccines.

However, the scientific community was not interested in this new work. Professor Weissman said their first paper in 2005 was rejected by Nature and Science. Finally, the research was published in a specialized publication called Immunity.

A few years later, Moderna (USA) and BioNTech (Germany) paid attention to this work, investing in mRNA vaccine research to prevent influenza, cytomegalovirus and other pathogens. However, none have passed clinical trials for many years. By 2019, Covid-19 appeared, mRNA became a ray of hope, helping the vaccine development process proceed at record speed, saving billions of lives.

Two scientists Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko. (Photo: Penn Medicine)

The laureate is awarded a Nobel certificate, a Nobel medal, and a prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor (about 989,000 USD), on December 10. Scientists often have to wait decades for their work to be recognized by the Nobel Jury.

In 2022, the Nobel Committee named scientist Svante Pääbo for his discoveries related to human evolution.

Before the Nobel Prize named Dr. Kariko and Professor. Weissman, the 2021 VinFuture Award , one of the first few global-scale science and technology awards, also honored the research work of Dr. Kariko and Professor. Weissman.

VinFuture honored Dr. Kariko and Professor. Weissman 2 years before the Nobel demonstrated the stature and vision of the VinFuture Prize Council.

Although he has been honored by many major international awards, the VinFuture Award still holds a special place for Dr. Kariko. In a share at the end of June 2023, she emphasized the importance of having scientific awards from developing countries, especially prestigious awards, because they will attract attention. not only domestically but also globally.

Ms. Kariko affirmed that, from VinFuture, world scientists have better understood a Vietnam that is strongly reaching out internationally. International awards such as VinFuture are not only a source of inspiration for domestic scientists but also create attraction and interest from countries with strongly developed science and technology, thereby opening up new opportunities. opportunity for cooperation and knowledge sharing, promoting the development of science and technology globally, especially in developing countries.