A 2023 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE: PATHWAY FOR NEXT GENERATION OF VACCINES

Abstract

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines against COVID-19. mRNA is a transient molecule in the cell that conveys the instructions for synthesis of a protein from the nucleus, where instructions are stored as a genetic code in the DNA, to the cell’s protein making machinery (ribosomes) in the cytoplasm. It took several decades of research to uncover how mRNA could be used to deliver an antigen into cells and trigger the body’s own immune response. NOBELOVA NAGRADA 2023 ZA FIZIOLOGIJO ALI MEDICINO: POT DO NASLEDNJEGA RODU CEPIV Letošnja Nobelova nagrada za fiziologijo ali medicino je bila podeljena Katalin Karikó in Drewu Weissmanu za odkritja, ki so omogočila razvoj cepiv proti COVID-19 na osnovi sporočilne RNA (mRNA). mRNA je prehodna molekula v celici, ki posreduje navodila za sintezo proteinov iz jedra, kjer so navodila shranjena kot genetski kod v DNA, celičnemu sistemu za izdelovanje proteinov (ribosomov) v citoplazmi. Potrebnih je bilo več desetletij raziskav, da bi odkrili, kako uporabiti mRNA za prenos antigenov celicam in začetek telesu lastnega imunskega odziva. Ključne besede: Nobelova nagrada; mRNA cepiva; genska terapija

Keywords

• Nobel prize
• mRNA vaccine
• gene therapy