COVID-19 vaccine scientists Professors Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman accept the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Sunday for their efforts — while wearing face masks..The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded Karikó and Weissman “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”.The mRNA technology was being developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but test results showed an “inflammatory reaction.” The institute explained Karikó and Weissman’s work was successful in diminishing the inflammation by moving the process away from in vitro transcription. .The Nobel Assembly said the discoveries made by the pair of scientists were “critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic.”.“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 states. .Prior to the mRNA vaccines, vaccination stimulated “the formation of an immune response to a particular pathogen,” the institute said. “Vaccines based on killed or weakened viruses have long been available, exemplified by the vaccines against polio, measles, and yellow fever.”.Now, molecular biology has progressed to formulate “vaccines based on individual viral components, rather than whole viruses,” the Nobel Assembly wrote on their website. “Parts of the viral genetic code, usually encoding proteins found on the virus surface, are used to make proteins that stimulate the formation of virus-blocking antibodies.”.It works by mimicking the way DNA and mRNA work in the body. .“In our cells, genetic information encoded in DNA is transferred to messenger RNA (mRNA), which is used as a template for protein production,” the statement reads. .In the 80s, scientists produced mRNA “without cell culture” in a process called “in vitro transcription,” which accelerated the use of the technology in the field. .However, the in vitro transcription led to a rise in inflammation. .“These obstacles did not discourage the Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó, who was devoted to developing methods to use mRNA for therapy,” the press release states. “She remained true to her vision of realizing mRNA as a therapeutic despite encountering difficulties in convincing research funders of the significance of her project.”.Enter Weissman, also interested in “immune surveillance and the activation of vaccine-induced immune responses.”.The pair established “critical properties must distinguish the different types of mRNA,” and through research found the inflammatory response was “almost abolished when base modifications were included in the mRNA.”.“Protective effects of around 95% were reported, and both vaccines were approved as early as December 2020,” it continues..“The impressive flexibility and speed with which mRNA vaccines can be developed pave the way for using the new platform also for vaccines against other infectious diseases. In the future, the technology may also be used to deliver therapeutic proteins and treat some cancer types.”.“More than 13 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given globally,” it said. “The vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented severe disease in many more, allowing societies to open and return to normal conditions. Through their fundamental discoveries of the importance of base modifications in mRNA, this year’s Nobel laureates critically contributed to this transformative development during one of the biggest health crises of our time.”.Professor Qiang Pan Hammarström, member of the Nobel Assembly, said the new vaccines are inexpensive and safe — and the pair of scientists reduced “the inflammatory response.”.“Together they have discovered that by using nucleoside-based modifications in virtual synthesized or individually produced RNA, it can help us to bypass the new checkpoint and to avoid the unnecessary or a bad inflammatory response that is triggered by our immune cells,” Hammarström said. “This helps the cells produce more proteins and also reduce the inflammatory response.”.“This discovery has a major impact on our science, medicine, and society, as everybody has experienced the COVID-19 pandemic that affects our lives, economy, and public health,” Hammarström continued. “There are several different types of vaccines, a vector based inactive virus-based vaccines and this new mRNA vaccine, so the advantages [are] vast because they require less resources and potentially can also be low cost and also extremely safe.”
