Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 – On October 2, 2023, the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 was announced by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute. There are 351 candidates for the Nobel Prize in different fields in 2023. Since the Nobel Prize was started in 1901, till 2023, 227 people have been honored with this award in the field of medicine. In this article, we will read about the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the year 2023.
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Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 Winners

- In 2023, Hungarian-American scientist Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- The award was given to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for developing messenger RNA technology.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer, Bio-N Tech, and Moderna made the vaccine for Covid-19 using mRNA technology.
- A cash prize of 11 million Swedish kronor i.e. approximately Rs 8.33 crore will be given in the Nobel Prize. This amount will be given to the winners on December 10.
Now we will read in detail about the scientists who developed mRNA technology.
Katalin Kariko: Developed mRNA technology
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 – Katalin Kariko was born on 17 October 1955 in Hungary. Kariko worked for several years on RNA at the University of Szeged in Hungary. In 1985, she sold her car in the black market for $1200 and came to America. After coming here, he started working on mRNA technology at the University of Pennsylvania.
mRNA was discovered in 1961, but even now scientists are trying to find out how proteins can be made in the body through it. Kariko wanted to work on this, but she lacked funds. In 1990, Kariko’s boss at the University of Pennsylvania told him to either quit his job or be demoted. Kariko was demoted. Kariko wanted to make vaccines and drugs for chronic diseases.
At the same time, research was going on worldwide on whether mRNA could be used to make special antibodies to fight viruses. Drew Weissman came to the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.
Drew Weissman: Funded Katrin Kariko’s research
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 – Drew Weisman is a famous immunologist. Drew funded Kariko. Later both of them partnered and started working on this technology. In 2005, Drew and Kariko published a research paper, which claimed that immunity can be increased through modified mRNA, which can also lead to the development of medicines and vaccines for many diseases.
However, no one paid attention to his research for many years. In 2010, American scientist Derrick Rossi opened the biotech company Moderna to make a vaccine from modified mRNA. In 2013, Kariko was appointed Senior Vice President at the German company BioNTech.
What is mRNA technology?
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 – mRNA or messenger RNA is a small part of the genetic code that makes proteins in our cells. It can also be understood in simple language that mRNA technology sends a message to our cells to make proteins to fight that virus or bacteria when a virus or bacteria attacks our body. With this, our immune system gets the essential proteins, and antibodies are formed in our body.
Its biggest advantage is that it can make the vaccine more quickly than the conventional vaccine. Along with this, the immunity of the body also gets strengthened.
So in this article, we have read about the Nobel Prize winners in medicine in 2023. We hope you liked this article.