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Katalin Karikó spent decades being told her work on mRNA was a dead end. She was demoted repeatedly and pushed off the tenure track. That work became the foundation of the mRNA covid vaccines, and won a Nobel Prize.

Katalin Karikó (b. 1955)

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Why it matters

The idea in context

mRNA is the molecule that carries instructions from DNA to the cell's protein factories. Karikó's idea was to write your own instructions and have the body build the medicine itself — but injected mRNA triggered a violent immune response, and grant after grant was refused. At the University of Pennsylvania she was demoted four times. Working with Drew Weissman, she found in 2005 that swapping one building block let mRNA slip past the immune system. Fifteen years later that fix was in billions of arms, and in 2023 the two of them shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Katalin Karikó, onlarca yıl boyunca mRNA üzerine çalışmasının çıkmaz sokak olduğunu duydu. Defalarca rütbesi düşürüldü ve kadro yolundan çıkarıldı. O çalışma mRNA kovid aşılarının temeli oldu ve Nobel Ödülü kazandı.
Katalin Karikó (d. 1955)

mRNA, DNA'dan hücrenin protein fabrikalarına talimat taşıyan moleküldür. Karikó'nun fikri, kendi talimatlarınızı yazıp ilacı bedene yaptırmaktı — ama enjekte edilen mRNA şiddetli bir bağışıklık tepkisi tetikliyordu ve hibe üstüne hibe reddedildi. Pennsylvania Üniversitesi'nde dört kez rütbesi düşürüldü. Drew Weissman ile birlikte 2005'te, bir yapı taşını değiştirmenin mRNA'nın bağışıklık sisteminden sıyrılmasını sağladığını buldu. On beş yıl sonra bu çözüm milyarlarca kolun içindeydi ve 2023'te ikisi Nobel Tıp Ödülü'nü paylaştı.

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Background reading: Katalin KarikóAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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