For decades Katalin Karikó researched mRNA medicines as a laboratory scientist without a prestigious professorship. Now, her discoveries underpin both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, saving millions worldwide. Hungarian-born Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the US won the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine for their research. In 2022, Karikó spoke to Think:Act Magazine about the future of this incredible technology.

How did you keep faith that your work would eventually be successful?

Some people might say I am a stubborn person. I applied for my first mRNA grant in 1989 – we first showed it could work in human cells in 2004, 15 years later. But as soon as I first became interested, I was convinced it would eventually work. I was probably very annoying. I would approach colleagues at lunch, at meetings: “Hey, you should get involved in this research, it’s going to be great.” But you could see the slow success – we saw it work in mice, then monkeys, then humans. Even when they were testing the Covid vaccine, I wasn’t nervous. I expected it would work like a charm.

What has it been like seeing your work recognized and making such an impact on the world?

I’m glad, of course. And I’m glad to help. They offered me a dose at the University of Pennsylvania (where Karikó did much of her pioneering research) a week after it was approved. it's incredible to think there are now millions - hundreds of millions of people - who now have a shot. And that our work could be part of that. But there is more to do. The new variants are so contagious. When cases were declining in the US in February (2021), people I know in Hungary (where Karikó is from) were writing to me saying people were dying there. It's still a worldwide problem.

What does the future hold for mRNA medicines?

Is a very good tool against viruses - flu and other viruses were being worked on before COVID. and we're always working to make it better, more efficient, more targeted. But I always believed it would be good for many many more things than just viruses: mRNA is a genetic instruction that living cells can read so you can use it like a drug, provoking whatever response you need from the cells. In the past, I looked into repairing heart cells, fixing genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis. Now there are new companies and labs starting up every day to work on these. I'm glad more people are doing it now, that's what I always wanted.

This interview first appeared in Think:Act Magazine Geopolitics 2.0