“Acceptance Speech” Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2022 in Biology and Biomedicine

Acceptance speech by Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2022 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, who was honored alongside Drew Weissman and Robert Langer for their contributions to the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and technologies for delivering mRNA into cells. Karikó and Weissman’s research made it possible to modify mRNA to prevent unwanted inflammatory responses, a crucial advance in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Karikó reviews the six decades of research between the discovery of messenger RNA and its first approved medical application. She explains how nucleoside modifications and purification techniques developed with Weissman, combined with Langer’s advances in delivery nanoparticles, made these vaccines possible. She also recalls how the three researchers initially pursued different scientific goals and acknowledges the contrib

Acceptance speech by Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2022 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, who was honored alongside Drew Weissman and Robert Langer for their contributions to the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and technologies for delivering mRNA into cells. Karikó and Weissman’s research made it possible to modify mRNA to prevent unwanted inflammatory responses, a crucial advance in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Karikó reviews the six decades of research between the discovery of messenger RNA and its first approved medical application. She explains how nucleoside modifications and purification techniques developed with Weissman, combined with Langer’s advances in delivery nanoparticles, made these vaccines possible. She also recalls how the three researchers initially pursued different scientific goals and acknowledges the contributions of thousands of scientists to this collective achievement, which she hopes will inspire future generations of researchers.