Nobel Laureate Defied System To Produce mRNA COVID Vaccine

The most effective vaccines against COVID-19 have been the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, with both companies benefiting from the discoveries of Nobel laureates Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó regarding how to alter the body's immune response to mRNA, reported Kelsey Piper for Vox.

In the US alone, it is estimated that the COVID-19 vaccines prevented over 3 million deaths and 18 million hospitalizations, saving more than $1 trillion. I Photo: Pfizer

However, at every stage of development, the research community that should have embraced Karikó's work hindered it due to significant incentives in science favoring work that is more fundable and publishable.

One study estimates that in the US alone, these vaccines prevented over 3 million deaths and 18 million hospitalizations, saving more than $1 trillion. On a global scale, the impact was even greater.

Yet, Karikó's critics are now raising concerns about her vaccines causing myocarditis. "I was expelled from Penn and forced to retire," Karikó said during an interview with Adam Smith on behalf of the Nobel Prize committee after receiving her award.

She eventually found a position at BioNTech, which required her to commute to and from Germany.

Karikó was hired by the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 but encountered difficulties securing grant funding for her mRNA research.

"She remained dedicated to the potential of mRNA and refused to shift to other, potentially more fundable projects," noted David Scales, who worked in her lab at Penn, in an interview with WBUR.

In 1995, Penn demoted her. Nevertheless, Karikó persisted and had to move from one lab to another at Penn before joining Weissman's lab, which was focused on an HIV vaccine.

Together, they delved into a crucial challenge in creating mRNA vaccines: the body's robust immune response to mRNA.

The body would render mRNA unusable for vaccines if it identified it as a foreign agent and destroyed it. Together, they devised a method to alter the chemical bonds in mRNA in a way that allowed it to evade detection by the immune system.

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem