Hungarian biochemistry Katalin Kariko and the American researcher Drew Weissman they won this Monday the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries about the messenger RNA that opened the way for the development of revolutionary vaccines against Covid-19.
The scientists, who were on the list of favorites, were distinguished for «his discoveries about the modifications of nucleic bases that allowed the development of effective vaccines against covid-19»indicated the jury.
By choosing these researchers, the Nobel Committee in Stockholm broke with tradition to recognize works with several decades of experience.
The technology awarded this Monday dates 2005 but the first vaccines that used messenger RNA were developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna against Covid-19.
«The winners contributed to development at an unprecedented rate of a vaccine during one of the greatest threats for the health of humanity in modern times,” added the jury.
The discovery was already worth it multiple recognitionsincluding the Princess of Asturias Award in 2021which they shared with other scientists.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine it was for the swedish Svante Pääbo for the development of paleogenetics and his discoveries about human evolution.
Pääbo, son of a biochemist also recognized with the Nobel Prizeworked on the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and discovered that we share part of our genes with this extinct hominid.
Along the history, the Medicine prize distinguished discoveries such as x-rays, penicillin, insulin or DNA.
But the Nobel Prize also awarded to lobotomy and the insecticide DDT, which have fallen out of favor today.
Iran, Ukraine, climate change
The Nobel season will continue on Tuesday with that of Physics, which may feature twisted graphene, the neutrino observatory IceCube in Antarctica or the development of high-density data storage in the field of spintronics.
For him Wednesday’s Nobel Prize in Chemistrythe leader from Clarivate, company specialized in scientific research, estimates that the sequencing of new generation of DNA can take the honors.
Lars Brostrom of NR radiohighlights the resident biologist in the United States Omar Yaghi and his work on metal-organic networks and their porous properties that allow the absorption of dangerous gases, “an important sector for the future”particularly in the environment.
Among the names that stand out for the Nobel Prize for Literature On Thursday, the dissident Russian writer appears, Lyudmila Ulitskayathe Chinese avant-garde writer Can Xue or the famous and threatened British writer Salman Rushdie.
The shadow of the war in ukraine and divisions in the international community loom the Nobel Peace Prize, which must be announced on Friday in Oslo.
Some advocate rewarding Iranian women who speak out against the mandatory use of the veil after the death of the young woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
Others propose recognizing those who investigate war crimes committed in Ukraine.
«I think climate change is an excellent choice for the award Nobel Peace Prize this year estimates the director of the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (Sipri), Dan Smith.
The Nobel Prize in Economics -as it is popularly known to the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, created in 1969 on the initiative of the Swedish central bank will close the ad season on October 9.