Katalin Kariko (Hungary) and Drew Weissman (USA) have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 for their discoveries in the field of nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Their work is recognized as invaluable in the conditions when the world has experienced the terrible pandemic of COVID-19, and the risk of other pandemics is high, the Nobel Committee explained their respective decision.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.