Biochemist Katalin Karikó and immunologist Drew Weissman received the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology this year.

They received it for their contribution to mRNA vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karikó worked towards introducing in-vitro mRNA in clinical practice or therapy, while Weissman researched the importance of dendritic cells in immune surveillance.

Their efforts together led to the development of base-modified mRNA.

The base modification resulted in:

Their pioneering research was published in 2005, following which mRNA vaccines were developed against diseases such as: