“I don’t want to promote myself, but science,” Katalin Carrico said Thursday at the press conference held at the University of Szeged (SZTE), the alma mater of the world-famous biochemist.
According to MTI News, the first Hungarian Nobel Prize-winning researcher stated that attention is usually focused on movie stars and athletes, and we should take advantage of the fact that researchers and science are now at the center. The interest generated by these awards creates an opportunity to start working with journalists so that people can understand science better and respect scientists, teachers, and doctors more.
During the pandemic, researchers have been busy developing vaccines and the progress of people “who learned about immunology on Facebook.” People with questions weren’t getting answers, said the biologist, who, in his own words, is a proponent of honest communication. He believes that the shared mission of researchers and journalists is to help people understand what is happening around them, so that those interested can access scientific knowledge.
Katalin Carrico, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, speaks at the celebratory meeting organized in her honor at the University of Szeged on October 12 – Photo: Tibor Rosta / MTI
The researcher, who shared with Drew Weisman the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology on December 10 for his discoveries that laid the foundations for the development of vaccines based on messenger RNA, pointed out that RNA was discovered 61 years ago, and since 1984 it has been possible to Scientists use a “test tube” to produce RNA that can encode any protein.
He said that already in 2000, the first companies that wanted to develop an anti-cancer vaccine using mRNA technology were founded, which is still considered one of the most important uses of this procedure. As he said, ten years ago, no one in the field would have thought that vaccination against infectious diseases would be the first area where authorities would agree to implement a solution.
Today, Moderna aims to treat rare diseases in which a deficiency of certain proteins causes changes in patients. The researcher said that clinical trials are also ongoing for genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia, but solutions to treat peanut or dust mite allergies are also being developed.
Katalin Carrico answered a question about whether the discoveries that enabled the development of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines would have been made if she had stayed and worked in Szeged. Sooner or later, others would discover the solutions they had discovered.
Regarding the planned cooperation with SZTE, the research professor said that he is looking for opportunities to participate more in the life of the university. He noted that he is in a little better position now, because if he writes to someone, he receives an answer immediately, and if someone calls, he may come.
This year, Katalin Carrico and Drew Wiseman received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm. According to the justification, the Szolnok-born microbiologist and his fellow researcher played a key role in developing new types of mRNA-based vaccines, in the fight against the largest pandemic in the last hundred years, and opened new paths to medicine. From the future. Karikó is connected to Szeged at several points. In 1976, when he was a university student in Szeged, he first heard about the medical use of mRNA. After graduating, he joined the Biological Research Center in Szeged.
On Wednesday, Karikó visited the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, where he gave a presentation of his book “Breakthrough” (we wrote more about the biography published by Helikon Publishing here). In the conversation, he naturally talked about the book, about himself, but also about the fact that he does not know what the educational situation is like in Hungary, but he wants to support teachers, but he does not want to reveal his type. About the disease he is currently researching, so as not to give false hope to those suffering from it.
