Who is Katalin Karikó
Katalin Karikó is a biochemist born in Szolnok, Hungary, on 17 January 1955. She shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Drew Weissman for discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled effective messenger RNA vaccines against COVID-19.[6]
Childhood and education in Hungary
She grew up in Kisújszállás and studied at Szeged, receiving a biology degree in 1978 and a biochemistry doctorate in 1982.[7] In an interview she recalled her interest in plants and early work on lipids. Jenö Tomasz then brought her into research on small RNA molecules associated with antiviral responses.[8]
She held a postdoctoral position at Szeged’s Biological Research Center from 1982 to 1985, followed by Temple University in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1988 and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda from 1988 to 1989. Her training combined biochemistry and pathology before she joined Penn.[1]
Penn and the goal of producing proteins
At Penn she worked with cardiologist Elliot Barnathan on producing proteins through mRNA. One objective was expressing a urokinase receptor associated with coagulation. The work showed that introducing molecular instructions could change protein production in the cells studied, while remaining experimental research.[9]
In 1993 she published a study with Kuo, Boyd, Okada, Cines and Barnathan on the urokinase receptor in an osteosarcoma cell line. They found increased matrix invasion without altered cell migration. This period included cancer cell biology alongside the development of RNA tools.[23]
Her Penn career included a research assistant professorship from 1989 to 1995, followed by senior research investigator responsibilities. She subsequently cofounded RNARx and served as its chief executive from 2006 to 2013. The company focused on therapeutic development of modified RNA.[13]
Collaboration with Drew Weissman
The collaboration combined Karikó’s RNA expertise with Weissman’s immunology and vaccine interests. Studying immune cells revealed a central problem: laboratory-produced RNA could trigger inflammatory signals that complicated its use as a vehicle for producing therapeutic proteins.[4]
In 2005 they published an Immunity paper with Michael Buckstein and Houping Ni. Certain nucleoside modifications reduced RNA recognition by innate immune receptors and dendritic-cell activation. The study provided an experimental approach to making synthetic RNA less immunostimulatory.[10]
Mechanisms and experimental applications
A 2010 study led by Bart Anderson, with Karikó among its authors, examined PKR. Pseudouridine-containing RNA activated this protein less strongly, reducing a mechanism that inhibits translation. This connected an RNA chemical modification with the amount of protein cells could produce.[11]
In 2012 she coauthored a study with Hiromi Muramatsu, Jason Keller and Weissman on mRNA encoding erythropoietin. Experiments found increased red-cell production in mice. This explored a protein-production application at the preclinical stage, using an animal model.[21]
BioNTech and pharmaceutical development
She joined BioNTech in 2013 after meeting Uğur Şahin’s team. She returned to Pennsylvania in 2022; in 2023 the company reported that she remained an external consultant.[14] Her academic CV distinguishes the vice presidency of 2013–2019 from the senior vice presidency of 2019–2022.[20]
With Şahin and Özlem Türeci she published a 2014 review on developing mRNA-based medicines. It examined stability, manufacturing, cellular delivery and control of protein expression, placing vaccines and protein replacement within a field whose applications were at different research stages.[15]
Publications during the pandemic
She coauthored the BNT162b1 study published in Nature in 2020. This open-label, non-randomised trial evaluated antibody and T-cell responses in healthy adults aged 18–55. BNT162b1 was one programme candidate; the paper studied immunogenicity and should be distinguished from subsequent BNT162b2 evaluation.[16]
She also contributed to Krienke and colleagues’ 2021 Science paper on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In mouse models, an mRNA formulation sought to induce immune tolerance to particular antigens. These preclinical findings do not establish therapeutic efficacy in people with multiple sclerosis.[17]
Awards and academic roles
Karikó and Weissman received the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award in 2021.[19] In 2022 the European Patent Office gave Karikó its European Inventor Award for lifetime achievement, recognising modified RNA development and its importance for vaccines and therapeutic applications.[12]
She is a professor at Szeged and an adjunct professor of neurosurgery at Penn.[20] In May 2026, Szeged documented her membership of the US national academies of Medicine, Engineering and Sciences. Elected to the latter in 2025, she attended its induction ceremony in April 2026.[3]
Breaking Through and her career account
Breaking Through: My Life in Science appeared in 2023, with a paperback edition in 2024. The memoir covers life in Hungary, migration, research and the difficulties of sustaining a research programme, adding her personal perspective to scientific publications and institutional records.[18]
In her interview following the Nobel announcement, she described leaving Penn in 2013 as forced retirement. Recalling those obstacles, she advised focusing on circumstances one can change. The account records her personal interpretation of a difficult period before joining BioNTech.[22]
mRNA research and protection of healthcare personnel
RNA modifications investigated by Karikó and Weissman contributed to the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.[2] A CDC study at 33 US sites examined effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 among healthcare personnel between January and March 2021.[5]
The study connects a particular technology, an occupational population and a defined outcome. It also distinguishes questions: preventing symptomatic disease is not the same as preventing every infection, and findings from that period do not automatically describe protection at other times. For occupational-health programmes, a useful reading of the case is to check population, exposure, outcome and context before transferring a numerical result.
