The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Hungarian-American biochemist Katalin Kariko and American physician-scientist Drew Weissman.
- They were announced winner for work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that paved the way for groundbreaking COVID-19 vaccines.
About mRNA vaccines
- The mRNA vaccines were approved for use in December 2020, and together with other Covid vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented severe disease.
- All vaccines introduce into the body a harmless piece of a particular bacteria or virus, triggering an immune response. Most vaccines contain a weakened or dead bacteria or virus. However, scientists have developed a new type of vaccine that uses a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) rather than part of an actual bacteria or virus.
- Messenger RNA is a type of RNA that is necessary for protein production.
- Messenger RNA is a molecule found in every living being. If DNA is our instruction manual for life, then mRNA is a single-page photocopy from this book—carrying genetic information for a specific protein.
- The core idea behind mRNA technology is to leverage the body’s natural protein-making abilities to make molecules that can help prevent or treat diseases.
- In this sense, mRNA turns our cells into factories that can produce proteins. Once cells finish making a protein, they quickly break down the mRNA.
- mRNA from vaccines does not enter the nucleus and does not alter DNA.
- mRNA is the minimal genetic vector; therefore, anti-vector immunity is avoided, and mRNA vaccines can be administered repeatedly.
- mRNA vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane.
- Individuals who get an mRNA vaccine are not exposed to the virus, nor can they become infected with the virus by the vaccine.
- By using this mRNA, cells can produce the viral protein. As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognizes that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies.
- Antibodies help protect the body against infection by recognizing individual viruses or other pathogens, attaching to them, and marking the pathogens for destruction.
- Once produced, antibodies remain in the body, even after the body has rid itself of the pathogen, so that the immune system can quickly respond if exposed again.
- If a person is exposed to a virus after receiving mRNA vaccination for it, antibodies can quickly recognize it, attach to it, and mark it for destruction before it can cause serious illness.
