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Nobel Prize Awarded to Scientists Whose Work Led to mRNA COVID Vaccine

An U.S. immunologist and a Hungarian-American biochemist will share the prestigious honor.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists whose research enabled the development of mRNA vaccines, which played a major role in the global response to the COVID pandemic. American immunologist Drew Weissman and Hungarian-born researcher Katalin Kariko, who met in the early 1990s while working at the University of Pennsylvania, were jointly awarded the prize for their work. “Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” a press release announcing the award said.