As you get your COVID vaccine, thank these two scientists

Thanks to Ed M.

Yesterday, the 2023 Nobel Prize Winners for Physiology or Medicine went to Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó for their discoveries in the biotechnology behind our Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. 

Behind the amazing story of perseverance and collaborative spirit (it’s a fascinating story) is an absolutely revolutionary scientific discovery. 

Here is the problem they solved, how we leveraged it for the pandemic, and the far-reaching implications.

The problem

In 1961, we discovered RNA in living things. RNA is a string of letters that gives our cells instructions on how to function. (continued)