The RNA Society congratulates 2023 Nobel laureates Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking work on the development of mRNA-based vaccines. For more information please see the press release here issued by the Nobel Commmittee.
We thank long-time RNA Society member, Dr. Philip Bevilacqua, for sharing below a personal story of their collaboration and the journey to develop mRNA vaccines.
“I’m glad to write a brief piece for the RNA Society on the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. It is interesting to note that their Nobel prize is “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”. So I’ll focus my remarks on the importance of nucleoside base modifications. I worked with Kati and Drew for a few years in the late 2000s. Kati contacted my lab to learn to work with PKR, an RNA-activated innate immune sensor of dsRNA that we were studying at that time. Inspired by her work with Drew, we had published a paper in the RNA journal the year before entitled, “Nucleoside modifications modulate activation of the protein kinase PKR in an RNA structure-specific manner” which showed that most types of modifications to RNA abrogate activation of PKR. I recall Kati explaining to me on the phone that they were working on an mRNA vaccine—something entirely new to me at the time—and seeking ways to block inflammatory responses. Kati’s and Drew’s student Bart Anderson came to my lab and learned to purify and work with PKR. Together, we wrote a paper in 2010 in Nucleic Acids Research entitled, “Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA enhances translation by diminishing PKR activation”. This was part of a series of papers from Kati and Drew that also included suppressed RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors, published in 2005. Their pioneering work led to development of the mRNA technology by a number of companies including BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, where Kati would become senior vice president. It is important to also mention Kati’s persistence in the face of adversity. She was never tenured and in fact forced to retire 10 years ago, which is when she went to BioNTech. (I encourage readers to listen to her moving and inspiring “first reactions” interview on the Nobel Prize site.) The support of her family and collaborator in Weissman were all critical. I couldn’t be happier for Kati and Drew in reaching this monumental achievement”
Philip Bevilacqua, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and of Biochemistry
Center for RNA Molecular Biology
Pennsylvania State University