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Katalin Karikó spent decades researching mRNA, the molecule that carries a cell's instructions for making proteins, despite repeated grant rejections and a demotion. Her work with Drew Weissman on modified mRNA paved the way for the mRNA vaccines at the heart of the COVID-19 response.

Nobel Prize

ScienceHealth

The story behind the card

Karikó moved from Hungary to the United States in 1985 and spent years at the University of Pennsylvania trying to win funding for mRNA work that few colleagues believed in. In 1995 she was demoted, and she later described being pushed out of posts more than once. The obstacle was that mRNA made in the laboratory set off a strong inflammatory reaction from the immune system. In 2005 she and Drew Weissman showed that replacing one of RNA's building blocks, uridine, with a slightly altered form such as pseudouridine largely avoided that reaction. The mRNA vaccines rest on the same principle, and the pair shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Türkçe oku
Katalin Karikó, hücreye hangi proteini yapacağını bildiren molekül olan mRNA üzerinde onlarca yıl çalıştı; fon başvuruları defalarca reddedildi, görevinden de indirildi. Drew Weissman'la birlikte değiştirilmiş mRNA üzerine yaptığı çalışmalar, COVID-19 salgınıyla mücadelede kilit rol oynayan mRNA aşılarının yolunu açtı.

Karikó 1985'te Macaristan'dan ABD'ye göç etti ve Pennsylvania Üniversitesi'nde, pek az meslektaşının inandığı mRNA çalışmalarına yıllarca fon bulmaya çalıştı. 1995'te görevinden indirildi; sonradan birkaç kez işinden uzaklaştırıldığını anlattı. Asıl sorun, laboratuvarda üretilen mRNA'nın bağışıklık sisteminde güçlü bir iltihap tepkisi uyandırmasıydı. Karikó ve Drew Weissman 2005'te, RNA'nın yapı taşlarından üridin yerine psödoüridin gibi biraz değiştirilmiş bir biçim kullanılınca bu tepkinin büyük ölçüde önlendiğini gösterdi. mRNA aşıları aynı ilkeye dayanır; ikili 2023 Nobel Fizyoloji veya Tıp Ödülü'nü paylaştı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Katalin Karikó
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