Experts explained the achievement of the Nobel laureates in medicine

Nobel Prize-winning biochemists in medicine were able to make a messenger RNA vaccine against covid-19 safe, but it cannot be ruled out that the negative aspects of this technology will not be known in the future Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko

Biochemists Katalin Kariko (Hungary) and Drew Weissman ( usa ), winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023, received it for overcoming difficulties in developing vaccines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (m-RNA), an infectious disease specialist explained to RBC. chief physician of the clinical diagnostic laboratory "Invitro-Siberia" Andrey Pozdnyakov. Using this technology, Pfizer and Moderna have created drugs against COVID-19.

During early experiments, m-RNA injected into animals produced a very strong immune response and serious side effects, Pozdnyakov explained. Kariko and Weissman were able to make mRNA-based vaccines safe.

“There was a big problem with the inflammatory process when introducing m-RNA, Kariko and Weissman were able to overcome this problem. At least in the obvious ways. And since there was an urgent need for the rapid creation of vaccines, on the basis of this technology we were able to quickly bring everything [to a state of readiness for use],” said professor of virology Alexander Chepurnov.

He noted that some authors have written about problems that have arisen in connection with this technology, but clarity on this issue will appear later.

Infectious disease DOCTOR Nikolai Malyshev, in a conversation with RBC, also noted that questions remain regarding the use of mRNA vaccines. “The effect of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines still needs to be monitored. We were in a hurry [to give the bonus] because there were a lot of negative publications about these vaccines, about what the long-term results might be,” Malyshev said. He also believes that a lot of people worked on the topic of mRNA vaccines, but now “a lot of people have been left behind.”

Adjunct professor at George Washington University, president of the consulting company NextGen Bio, Konstantin Chumakov, also noted that many “secretly hoped” for the Nobel Prize for these vaccines.

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“What these guys came up with is probably a key invention after all. If RNA is put into a cell, it is destroyed very quickly and causes a strong and unpleasant immune response. And they solved this issue by making a chemical modification of RNA, so that it became much more stable and does not cause bad reactions,” Chumakov explained. He called the decision of the Nobel Committee fair.

Medical DIRECTOR of the Medical On Group network of clinics, Svetlana Kanevskaya, explained in more detail the difference between m-RNA vaccines and traditional ones. The latter are produced from weakened or killed strains of microorganisms, their metabolic products or antigens obtained by genetic engineering or chemical means. When such drugs enter the body, the process of synthesis of protective antibodies is triggered.

“Vaccines based on messenger RNA are able to train cells to produce a specific protein fragment, which is important, without the virus itself. After the vaccine is directly injected into the arm, the mRNA enters cells at the injection site and stimulates them to produce the same protein found in the COVID-19 virus. The immune system detects this protein and activates the production of antibodies, falsely believing that a virus has entered the body,” Kanevskaya explained.