之后的故事,大家都很熟悉了。随着新冠疫情的突然到来,mRNA技术成了快速开发新冠疫苗的重要工具。多款mRNA新冠疫苗在临床试验中取得了积极的数据,也为对抗新冠疫情贡献了属于自己的重要力量。有意思的是,在新冠疫苗之前,mRNA技术还尚未开发出一款上市的产品。面对新冠疫情,mRNA技术临危受命,交出了一份令人满意的答卷。 ▲mRNA新冠疫苗中使用到的修饰(图片来源:参考资料[4]) 可以肯定的是,mRNA技术不仅带来了多款新冠疫苗,本身在生物医药研究领域也有极其重要的应用价值。而如果没有Kariko的坚忍,这项技术势必难以如此顺利地问世,或许也将赶不上在疫情中发挥自己的作用。 在她最艰难的时刻,Kariko一年赚不到6万美元,要不断更换实验室,才能继续从事科研工作。她的丈夫说她在工作上投入了如此多的时间,时薪只有可怜的个位数。然而就是这样一名科学家在遇到合适的搭档后,她终于迎来了属于自己的时刻,做出了划时代的发现。 而最终让mRNA技术成为可能的纳米脂质颗粒,最初也几乎走进死胡同。直到科学家们做了辛苦卓绝的探索,才最终取得成功。 今日授予Kariko博士Weissman博士的诺贝尔奖,固然是对他们工作的一大嘉奖。但能在极短的时间里带来疫苗,为全球的公共卫生做出卓越贡献,才更能体现出他们所做工作的重大意义。 让我们再次祝贺这两位杰出的科学家,并向他们突出的贡献致以崇高敬意! 参考资料:[1] The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023, Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/summary/[2] Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus, Retrieved Apr 8, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/health/coronavirus-mrna-kariko.html[3] The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race, Retrieved Nov 10, 2010, from https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/the-story-of-mrna-how-a-once-dismissed-idea-became-a-leading-technology-in-the-covid-vaccine-race/[4] Delivering the message: How a novel technology enabled the rapid development of effective vaccines from https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00993-4#relatedArticles[5] Without these lipid shells, there would be no mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 from https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-delivery/Without-lipid-shells-mRNA-vaccines/99/i8[6] Covid’s Forgotten Hero: The Untold Story Of The Scientist Whose Breakthrough Made The Vaccines Possible, Retrieved Aug 17, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2021/08/17/covids-forgotten-hero-the-untold-story-of-the-scientist-whose-breakthrough-made-the-vaccines-possible/?sh=1fc30902354f