, a technology that could open the door to a new generation of medical treatments and cures. For more than four decades, Prof Karikó has relentlessly explored how the single-stranded molecules of genetic code could be used to treat conditions from strokes and cancer to influenza. Despite demotions, countless grant rejections and, at points, deep scepticism from fellow scientists, she ploughed on. 'When I am knocked down I know how to pick myself up,' she said, speaking to The Telegraph from her home in Philadelphia. 'But I always enjoyed working... I imagined all of the diseases I could treat.' Prof Karikó first began work on mRNA at a lab in Hungary in 1978, before moving to the US after her position at the Biological Research Centre in Szeged was terminated in 1985. A decade later, when at the University of Pennsylvania, Prof Karikó was again demoted when her focus on mRNA failed to attract financial backing. But determination runs in the family – Prof Karikó's daughter, Susan Francia, won a gold medal for the American rowing team during the 2012 London Olympics – and the scientist persisted. mRNA mRNA molecules are single-stranded slithers of genetic code formed of nucleosides which instruct the human cells to produce certain proteins. The idea was that if you synthesise mRNA code in a lab you could instruct the body to better fight a wide range of diseases. However, for years there was a stu){kind=link}
“Redemption! … I was grabbing the air, I got so excited I was afraid that I might die or something.”
Katalin Kariko laughs as she recounts her reaction to the news that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which is based on research she pioneered and risked her career for, was 90 per cent effective in protecting against Covid-19.
For the Hungarian-born scientist the breakthrough goes beyond the hope that the new vaccine will help turn the tide of the pandemic. It is a validation of her career-long belief in the therapeutic potential of synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA), a technology that could open the door to a new generation of medical treatments and cures.
For more than four decades, Prof Kariko has relentlessly explored how the single-stranded molecules of genetic code could be used to treat conditions from strokes and cancer to influenza. Despite demotions, countless grant rejections and, at points, deep scepticism from fellow scientists, she ploughed on.
“When I am knocked down I know how to pick myself up,” she said, speaking to The Telegraph from her home in Philadelphia. “But I always enjoyed working… I imagined all of the diseases I could treat.”