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Scientist Exhibit

Katalin Karikó

Biology & Life Sciences • Medicine & Health

1955 – Present United States, Hungary

Developed nucleoside-base modifications that enabled effective mRNA vaccines

Overview Institutions
Katalin Karikó

Overview

About Katalin Karikó

Katalin Karikó is a biochemist whose decades of research helped make messenger RNA suitable for medical use. Working with Drew Weissman, she showed that modifying nucleosides in laboratory-made mRNA could reduce harmful inflammatory responses while allowing the molecule to deliver useful instructions to cells. The breakthrough became essential to the development of highly effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Karikó shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Modified nucleosides for therapeutic mRNA

Nucleoside-base modifications that reduced unwanted immune activation and enabled effective mRNA-based vaccines.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1985

career

Moves to the United States to continue mRNA research

Karikó moved from Hungary to the United States and joined Temple University, continuing her work on messenger RNA.

1989

career

Joins the University of Pennsylvania

Karikó joined the University of Pennsylvania, where she pursued the therapeutic potential of messenger RNA despite limited support for the approach.

1997

career

Begins collaboration with Drew Weissman

Karikó began working with immunologist Drew Weissman on overcoming inflammatory responses triggered by synthetic mRNA.

2005

discovery

Publishes the nucleoside-modification breakthrough

Karikó and Weissman showed that replacing uridine with modified nucleosides could suppress unwanted immune activation caused by in-vitro-transcribed mRNA.

2023

award

Receives the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Karikó shared the Nobel Prize with Drew Weissman for discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Places & Networks

Institutions

medical school

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Philadelphia , United States

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