“The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race”
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Katalin Karikó
Katalin "Kati" Karikó is a Hungarian and American biochemist who specializes in ribonucleic acid (RNA)-mediated mechanisms, particularly in vitro-transcribed messenger RNA (mRNA) for protein replacement therapy. Karikó laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines, overcoming major obstacles and skepticism in the scientific community. Karikó received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in…
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science · Hungarian-American biochemist (born 1955) · researcher · biochemist · university teacher · inventor · consultant · neuroscientist · also Katalin Karikó, Karikó Katalin, K. Karikó, Karikó
Born 17 January 1955 · Q88608397
67 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 3 entries
technologynetworks: Dr. Katalin Karikó on Resilience, Winning the Nobel Prize, and Affordable Childcare
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Has served as a member of the Advisory Board to Hungary's Minister of Health, Zsolt Hegedűs
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2025· 1 entry
Medscape: Katalin Karikó on mRNA’s Next Frontier: Beyond COVID
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2024· 2 entries
Awarded BBC 100 Women (2024).
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Scripps News: Nierenberg Prize Awarded to Biochemist Katalin Karikó for Pioneering Research on COVID-19 Vaccines
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2023· 10 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
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Glamour: Researcher Katalin Karikó Wins a Much-Deserved Nobel Prize
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Wired: Katalin Karikó’s Nobel Prize Marks the Beginning of an mRNA Vaccine Revolution
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Awarded Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (2023).
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Awarded National Inventors Hall of Fame (2023).
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Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2023).
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And was awarded the Libri Literary Prize in June 2024 and the ASIMOV Prize in May 2025
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Two children's books were released about her: Never Give Up: Dr
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Karikó was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her research into messenger RNA
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For her work, along with American immunologist Drew Weissman
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2022· 14 entries
Won Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal (2022).
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Awarded Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2022).
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Awarded Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (2022).
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Awarded Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022).
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Awarded Pearl Meister Greengard Prize (2022).
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Awarded Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2022).
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Awarded Honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva (2022).
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Awarded Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2022).
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Awarded Canada Gairdner International Award (2022).
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Won Helmholtz Medal (2022).
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Awarded Ernest Solvay Prize (2022).
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Karikó was awarded VinFuture Grand Prize from the VinFuture Foundation
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Left BioNTech to devote more time to research
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Karikó was awarded The Novo Nordisk Prize along with Drew Weissman for their pioneering forces for more than a decade in discovering a nucleoside-modified form of mRNA
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2021· 16 entries
Glamour: Dr. Katalin Karikó's Daughter Gave a Moving Tribute to Her Mom at Glamour 's 2021 WOTY Awards
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Awarded Széchenyi Prize (2021).
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Awarded For Human Dignity Award (2021).
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Won Wilhelm Exner Medal (2021).
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Awarded Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (2021).
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Awarded Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research (2021).
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Awarded Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2021).
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Awarded John Scott Award (2021).
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Awarded Time 100 (2021).
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Awarded Albany Medical Center Prize (2021).
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Awarded Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2021).
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Awarded Keio Medical Science Prize (2021).
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Awarded William B. Coley Award (2021).
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Awarded Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2021).
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Awarded Grand Prize of the French Academy of Science (2021).
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Received an honorary doctorate from the University of Szeged in Hungary, where she has since become a professor
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2020· 3 entries
Houston Chronicle: Katalin Karikó, the mother of the Covid-19 vaccine, affirms 'In summer we will probably be able to return to normal life'
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Awarded Rosenstiel Award (2020).
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Karikó and Weissman's technology was used in vaccines for COVID-19 produced by BioNTech and its partner Pfizer and by Moderna
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2014· 1 entry
Published “mRNA-based therapeutics — developing a new class of drugs” in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery — cited 2,313 times.
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2008· 1 entry
Published “Incorporation of Pseudouridine Into mRNA Yields Superior Nonimmunogenic Vector With Increased Translational Capacity and Biological Stability” in Molecular Therapy — cited 1,805 times.
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2006· 2 entries
Katalin Karikó reached out to biochemist Ian MacLachlan to work with him on the chemically altered mRNA
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And 2013 received patents for the use of several modified nucleosides to reduce the antiviral immune response to mRNA
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2005· 2 entries
Published “Suppression of RNA Recognition by Toll-like Receptors: The Impact of Nucleoside Modification and the Evolutionary Origin of RNA” in Immunity — cited 2,456 times.
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Demonstrated that while synthetic mRNA was highly inflammatory, tRNA was noninflammatory
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1997· 1 entry
Met Drew Weissman, a professor of immunology who had recently arrived at the University of Pennsylvania
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1995· 2 entries
Karikó was never granted tenure and joined BioNTech in 2013 after the university had declined to reinstate her
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“La pioniera di BioNTech: “Con la mia arma anti-Covid ora voglio battere il cancro”
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1990· 1 entry
While an adjunct professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Karikó submitted her first grant application in which she proposed establishing mRNA-based gene therapy
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1989· 1 entry
Was hired by the University of Pennsylvania to work with cardiologist Elliot Barnathan on messenger RNA (mRNA)
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1988· 1 entry
Karikó accepted a job at Johns Hopkins University without first informing her lab advisor Suhadolnik of her intention to leave Temple, as recounted in Gregory Zuckerman's 2021 book A Shot to Save the World
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1985· 2 entries
Her lab at the BRC lost its funding, and Karikó sought work at institutions in other countries
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For the opportunity he gave me to work in his lab", noting that "when I gave a lecture [at Temple, a] couple of years later, I thanked him for the science I learned from him
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1982· 1 entry
Studied at University of Szeged, Doctor of Philosophy (1978–1982).
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1978· 2 entries
And her PhD in biochemistry in 1982, both from the University of Szeged
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Studied at University of Szeged, Master of Science (1973–1978).
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1955· 1 entry
Born 1955-01-17.
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