Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023

The Nobel Prize is named after the Swedish industrialist, chemist, and engineer, Alfred Nobel, who invented the dynamite. He was born in 1833 and left his life’s fortune to the establishment of the Nobel Prizes when he died in 1896.  

The Nobel Prize is awarded annually to anyone who provides the greatest contribution to society and mankind in any of the five disciplines: Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry Literature, Economics and Peace. Being awarded the Nobel Prize could be considered a person’s biggest lifetime accomplishment. 

The Nobel Prizes are presented by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (for Physics, Chemistry and Economics), the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute (for Physiology or Medicine), the Swedish Academy (for Literature) and the Norwegian Nobel Committee (for Peace). 

The first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901. Every person who receives the Prize is referred to as a “laureate”. A Nobel Laureate receives a green-coloured gold medal plated with 24 karat gold, a monetary reward of 11 million SEK (the official currency of Sweden) and a diploma. The Nobel Prize can be awarded to not more than three individuals in the same discipline. The exception is organisations that have more than three people.  

The Nobel Prizes 2023 are currently being awarded to individuals across the five disciples. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been presented to two individuals, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”.

There are many ways in which the vaccines that we use today function. The Nobel Laureates in Medicine 2023 found a way to use mRNA to create a stable and effective COVID-19 vaccine. mRNA is a molecule found in your body which is required to produce proteins. They found that certain modifications made to the mRNA in the laboratory made it more effective as a vaccine.