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Biography · Noble People · 50 / 100

Katalin Karikó

born 1955 · Biochemist

Portrait of Katalin Karikó
US Embassy Sweden · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Bio

Hungarian-American biochemist whose research with Drew Weissman, published in 2005 after years of rejected grant applications, showed how modified nucleosides allow messenger RNA to enter cells without triggering a destructive immune response. The discovery underpinned the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. She shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and has worked in both academia and industry.