Nobel Medicine Prize for COVID-19 vaccine? It may be too soon

Stockholm, Oct 3 (BUS): The scientists behind COVID-19 vaccines may vie to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine even though the pandemic is far from over.

Some scientists say it’s just a matter of time: If the work done in developing vaccines isn’t recognized when this year’s prize is announced on Monday, it will win the prize in the coming years.

More than 4.7 million people have died from Covid-19 since the first cases of the new coronavirus were recorded in 2019, and many countries are still living under strict restrictions aimed at curbing its spread, according to Reuters.

But the COVID-19 vaccines have helped some wealthy countries get back to almost normal while others haven’t received large doses of the vaccine.

Among those considered by other scientists as potential winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine are Hungarian-born Katalin Kariko and American Drew Wiseman for their work on what are known as messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines.

The mRNA vaccines developed by Moderna, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have revolutionized the fight against the virus. They are quick to produce and very effective.

“Sooner or later this technology will receive the award, I’m sure of it,” said Ali Mirazami, a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. “The question is when.”

Conventional vaccines, which introduce a weakened or dead virus to stimulate the body’s immune system, may take a decade or more to develop. Moderna’s mRNA vaccine has gone from genetic sequencing to the first human injection in 63 days.

RNA carries messages from the body’s DNA to its cells, instructing them to make proteins needed for vital functions, such as coordinating biological processes including digestion or fighting disease.

New vaccines use mRNA made in the laboratory to direct cells to manufacture the skeletal proteins of the coronavirus, which stimulate the immune system to work without reproducing like the actual virus.

mRNA was discovered in 1961, but it took decades for scientists to cure mRNA technology from problems such as instability and causing inflammatory conditions.

The developers now hope it can be used to treat both cancer and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in the future.

“In addition to the fact that they have been shown to generate a very effective immune response, you don’t have to customize production every time you make a new vaccine,” said Adam Fredrik Sander Bertelsen, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. Chief Scientific Officer of Adaptvac Vaccines.

“It has already saved countless thousands of people due to its speed and efficiency, so I can very well support that.” Cariko, 66, laid the foundation for mRNA vaccines and Weissman, 62, is her longtime collaborator.

“They are the brain behind the discovery of RNA,” Mirazami said. “They may be very young, and the (Nobel) committee usually waits until Nobel laureates are in their 80s,” he added.

Carriko, along with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, have made major advances by discovering how to deliver mRNA without prompting the immune system to overdrive.

The Nobel Prize was founded by the inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize is awarded for achievements in medicine, chemistry, literature, peace and physics. This year’s winners will be announced between October 4-11, starting with Medicine.

HF