Scientists Win Nobel Medicine Prize for COVID-19 Vaccine Research
2023-10-03
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1Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for making molecule discoveries that helped create COVID-19 vaccines.
2The Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute announced the winners Monday.
3They are Hungarian-American Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman.
4Members of the assembly praised the two scientists for assisting in "the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times."
5Kariko and Weissman have long cooperated on research while working as professors at the University of Pennsylvania.
6The two centered on a technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA.
7Technology companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna used mRNA to create their COVID-19 vaccines.
8The vaccines were deployed around the world to fight the disease.
9The Nobel organization said the two scientists had changed "our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system."
10Vaccine makers usually add elements of an inactive or weakened virus to the shot mixture.
11But with mRNA vaccines, scientists instead create a genetic material to direct the human body to produce antibodies and recognize and destroy the virus.
12Research on mRNA has gone on for about 30 years.
13But no mRNA vaccine was developed and approved for use on people until the COVID-19 pandemic.
14In early experiments, researchers discovered that injecting laboratory-grown mRNA into animals usually led to a body reaction that destroyed it.
15But Kariko and Weissman found a way to make a small change, or modification, to the building blocks of RNA that permitted it to survive immune defenses in the body.
16Their discovery was seen as breaking a major barrier because it showed that mRNA technology could be used as a treatment in humans.
17The 68-year-old Kariko is the 13th woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine.
18She was a vice president at BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to make one of the COVID-19 vaccines.
19She and the 64-year-old Weissman met by chance in the 1990s at the University of Pennsylvania.
20Kariko noted that her husband was first to pick up the early morning call about the news.
21She said she then watched the announcement to make sure it was true.
22"I was very much surprised. But I am very happy."
23In reaction to his prize, Weissman said, "The future is just so incredible. We've been thinking for years about everything that we could do with RNA, and now it's here."
24The two researchers have cooperated for many years, with Kariko centering on RNA and Weissman studying related immunology.
25"We educated each other," Kariko said.
26The prize comes with an award of $1 million.
27An award ceremony for all the Nobel awards, except the Peace Prize, is set for December 10 in Stockholm.
28The Peace Prize ceremony will take place in Norway's capital, Oslo.
29Other Nobel announcements will be made this week.
30The prize in physics will be announced Tuesday.
31Chemistry will be announced Wednesday, while literature will be awarded on Thursday.
32The Nobel Peace Prize is set to be announced Friday.
33I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for making molecule discoveries that helped create COVID-19 vaccines. 2The Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute announced the winners Monday. They are Hungarian-American Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman. 3Members of the assembly praised the two scientists for assisting in "the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times." 4Kariko and Weissman have long cooperated on research while working as professors at the University of Pennsylvania. The two centered on a technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA. 5Technology companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna used mRNA to create their COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines were deployed around the world to fight the disease. 6The Nobel organization said the two scientists had changed "our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system." 7Vaccine makers usually add elements of an inactive or weakened virus to the shot mixture. But with mRNA vaccines, scientists instead create a genetic material to direct the human body to produce antibodies and recognize and destroy the virus. 8Research on mRNA has gone on for about 30 years. But no mRNA vaccine was developed and approved for use on people until the COVID-19 pandemic. In early experiments, researchers discovered that injecting laboratory-grown mRNA into animals usually led to a body reaction that destroyed it. 9But Kariko and Weissman found a way to make a small change, or modification, to the building blocks of RNA that permitted it to survive immune defenses in the body. Their discovery was seen as breaking a major barrier because it showed that mRNA technology could be used as a treatment in humans. 10The 68-year-old Kariko is the 13th woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine. She was a vice president at BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to make one of the COVID-19 vaccines. She and the 64-year-old Weissman met by chance in the 1990s at the University of Pennsylvania. 11Kariko noted that her husband was first to pick up the early morning call about the news. She said she then watched the announcement to make sure it was true. "I was very much surprised. But I am very happy." 12In reaction to his prize, Weissman said, "The future is just so incredible. We've been thinking for years about everything that we could do with RNA, and now it's here." 13The two researchers have cooperated for many years, with Kariko centering on RNA and Weissman studying related immunology. "We educated each other," Kariko said. 14The prize comes with an award of $1 million. An award ceremony for all the Nobel awards, except the Peace Prize, is set for December 10 in Stockholm. The Peace Prize ceremony will take place in Norway's capital, Oslo. 15Other Nobel announcements will be made this week. The prize in physics will be announced Tuesday. Chemistry will be announced Wednesday, while literature will be awarded on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize is set to be announced Friday. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 18_________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20unprecedented - adj. never having happened before 21antibody - n. a substance produced in the body to fight disease 22immune system - n. the cells and tissues in the body that fight against infection