BioChemistry => mRNA, vaccines

Katalin Karikó’s work made mRNA vaccines possible. She co-discovered that modifying mRNA nucleosides, particularly by incorporating pseudouridine, successfully suppressed the immune system’s inflammatory response to synthetic mRNA.

Katalin Karikó was born January 17, 1955, in Szolnok, Hungary and grew up in Kisújszállás, Hungary, in a small home without running water, a refrigerator, or television.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology in 1978 and her doctorate in biochemistry in 1982 from the University of Szeged in Hungary. There she studied the antiviral activity of short segments of RNA and began her investigations of modified nucleosides.

In 1985, with no further funding to support her research at the BRC, Karikó moved to the US and joined the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1989. By the late 1990s, however, Karikó’s work on mRNA and gene therapy had stalled again for lack of funding.

In 1997, she began collaborating with immunologist Drew Weissman. Together, they discovered that modifying mRNA nucleosides, particularly by incorporating pseudouridine, suppressed the immune system’s inflammatory response to synthetic mRNA, making it a viable tool for therapeutic use. This breakthrough enabled the development of safe and effective mRNA vaccines. Weissman’s funding was critical in helping Karikó to continue and extend her research

Karikó and Weissman subsequently started a company called RNARx, which aimed to commercialize non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA. The researchers eventually licensed the technology to two biotechnology companies, Moderna and BioNTech who turned it into a COVID-19 vaccine.

In 2023, she and Weissman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Karikó’s work on RNA therapeutics was recognized with numerous honors, including the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research (2020), the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2021), and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2021); all three awards were shared with Weissman.

Katalin Karikó’s journey from her early research on mRNA to her pivotal role in vaccine development serves as an inspiration. Her dedication and perseverance were eventually successful in the face of the many financial, legal immigration and personal challenges.

You learn more from failure — When things are not working well, she said.

She is currently an adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania and a professor at the University of Szeged.