The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó and American researcher Drew Weissman. They were announced as winners of the award this Monday (2). The achievement was made possible by the duo’s work on messenger RNA (mRNA), which paved the way for the development of Covid-19 vaccines.

Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko – Photo: Peggy Peterson/ @NobelPrize/Internet/Disclosure/ND

Katalin and Weissman were shortlisted for the award because of “their discoveries about nucleobase modifications that have enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19,” the jury said.

“The winners have made unprecedented contributions to vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” he added.

The scientists will receive a diploma, a gold medal and a check for almost 1 million US dollars (almost 5 million reais). The delivery will be carried out by the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf. The ceremony, which is to take place in Stockholm (Sweden), is scheduled for December 10. This date marks the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), who established the prize in his will.

Technology used in Covid-19 vaccine

Kariko, 68, and Weissman, 64, work together at the University of Pennsylvania in the US and have already received several awards for their work, including the Lasker Prize, which is considered a precursor award to the Nobel Prize.

The technology awarded this Monday dates back to 2005, but the first vaccines using mRNA were developed by the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna laboratories against Covid-19.

Unlike traditional vaccines, which use weakened viruses or fragments of viral proteins, the messenger RNA method uses genetic molecules that tell cells what proteins to make.

This process simulates an infection and trains the immune system to fight a real virus.

Previous edition of the Nobel Prize in Medicine

In 2022, the Swede Svante Pääbo won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the development of paleogenetics and discoveries in the field of human evolution.

The son of a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, Pääbo worked to sequence the Neanderthal genome and discovered that we share some of our genes with this extinct man.

Upcoming Awards

The Nobel season continues on Tuesday (3) with the Physics Prize and on Wednesday (4) with the Chemistry Prize. The winner of the Literature Prize will be announced on Thursday (5) and the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo on Friday (6).

The Nobel Prize in Economics, created in 1969 on the initiative of the Swedish Central Bank, ends its season on October 9.