Mahiyar Patel, Pune
The recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine are Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó. The prize has been awarded for the couple’s breakthrough research on mRNA and its interaction with the human immune system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for quick development and distribution of vaccines was crucial. The couple’s work with mRNA helped bring about two successful vaccines in late 2020.
The vaccines they helped develop have seen more than 13 billion doses manufactured, saving countless lives and enabling people to return to their normal lives. Their breakthrough in vaccines is the most significant in the field in the past 70 years. In 1951, Max Theiler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in developing the yellow fever vaccine.
Vaccines work by giving the body a head start in developing an immune response. This is done by injecting neutralized or dormant protein cells of the particular virus into the body in the form of a vaccine. mRNA encodes the genetic information of our DNA through a messenger, hence the term mRNA. This mRNA technique has garnered great attention and expectations in the scientific community. Several companies were pursuing mRNA vaccines for diseases such as the Zika virus and MERS-CoV-2. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, mRNA was used to produce two highly successful vaccines with an efficacy rate of 95%.
The speed at which these vaccines were developed using this technology was unprecedented. It is now being used as a platform for the development of many different types of vaccines. This technology will deliver therapeutic proteins to the immune system and aid in fighting viruses. It also has the potential to cure certain types of cancers.
Katalin Karikó was born in Hungary and is presently an Adjunct Professor at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew Weissman was born in the USA and is the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.