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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023

The 2023 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”. The duo had started investigating mRNA as a platform for protein replacement therapeutics in the early 1990s but were hampered by its inflammatory properties. Their breakthrough discovery in 2005 showed that replacement of uridine with pseudouridine renders mRNA non-immunogenic. This paved the way for the development of mRNA-based vaccines at unprecedented speed, saving countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this Collection, Nature Portfolio recognizes the achievements of the Nobel Laureates in a selection of research, review, news and opinion articles that highlight the development of mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines over the past two decades.

Nobel prize medal in front of graph showing heart rate and tablets.

This Collection is editorially independent, produced with financial support from a third party. About this content.

Cracking the Code: The Dawn of Nucleic Acid Medicines

The conference will discuss the development of nucleic acid medicines — both the recent clinical successes, and current and upcoming challenges. By bringing together academics in basic and translational research and their peers in thriving biotechnology companies and promising start-ups, the conference aims to foster dialog and to spearhead collaborations. The first day (October 17, 2023) will bring awareness of R&D driven by biotechnology companies developing nucleic acid medicines, and discuss career paths for students and early career researchers to become the next-generation of leaders in biotechnology. The following two days will discuss what should be learnt from late-stage and approved nucleic acid gene therapies and vaccines, and highlight promising preclinical therapeutic modalities — in particular, genome and epigenome editing, and the design of new RNA therapeutics — and machine learning and bioinformatic tools accelerating the development of emerging nucleic acid therapies and vaccines.