Katalin Karikó, who won the European Inventor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, won this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine. She and her colleague Drew Weisman are credited with discovering messenger RNA (mRNA) and modifying it so it was ultimately safe for use in humans. This work has greatly enhanced mankind's understanding of mRNA and is crucial for the development of effective mRNA vaccines to slow down the global new coronavirus.
Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a molecule that carries instructions from a cell's DNA to its molecular system for building proteins. In the 1980s, scientists recognized that injecting synthetic mRNA into cells that could trigger specific proteins on demand had huge therapeutic potential, but progress was stalled due to the extremely high cost and technical limitations of its manufacture. There was a slowdown in the 1990s. But as an RNA expert, Karikó always believes that mRNA can create new treatments. She persisted in her research despite encountering obstacles, including academic doubts, being demoted from her job, and risking deportation from the United States.
In 1997, she achieved a breakthrough when she and colleague Drew Weissman created an mRNA-based HIV vaccine. The modified molecule inhibited the strong inflammatory response caused by the injection of mRNA, which is also the most critical step in enabling the vaccine to be used in humans. This modification became a turning point in the development of mRNA vaccines and therapies. Karikó joined the German company BioNTech in 2013 and made the company's COVID-19 mRNA vaccine the first of its kind to be marketed in 2020.
After studying RNA for more than 40 years, Karikó hasn't stopped her research. Thanks to her invention, a growing number of mRNA treatments are being developed, including treatments for influenza, malaria, metabolic and immune disorders, and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
In addition to her work at BioNTech, Karikó is an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where she continues to research and develop approximately 30 modified RNA-based therapies.
