What is the Nobel Prize?
The Nobel Prize is a special award given by the Nobel Foundation in Sweden. It's named after Alfred Nobel. He was from Sweden and invented dynamite. He used the money he got from it to give prizes to people who did good things for humanity.
The Nobel Prize is given annually in six areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901.
The winners of the Nobel Prize get a gold medal, a diploma, and some money. In 2023, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Why did Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman receive the Nobel Prize?
Katalin Karikó (Hungarian-American) and Drew Weissman (USA) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. This technology helped create COVID-19 vaccines. Now, mRNA technology is also helping to make treatments for other sicknesses like cancer and heart problems.
Katalin Karikó also became the 13th woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in medicine. Sixty-three women have won Nobel Prizes. But, only Marie Curie won it twice, once for physics in 1903 and once for chemistry in 1911.
How do mRNA vaccines work?
mRNA functions as a message carrier, helping our cells understand how to make things. Most vaccines teach our bodies to fight off sickness by using parts of weak or dead viruses. But, the mRNA vaccines do not use the virus.
mRNA vaccines train our cells to make a protein similar to the virus from which protection is required. This creates antibodies that protect us from being ill in the future from that virus. During the pandemic, many vaccine makers used the mRNA technique. This helped our bodies develop protection against the disease.
