Katalin Kariko, a scientist who is known around the world for developing the technology that is indispensable for "mRNA vaccine", one of the vaccines that is expected to be the "trick" to prevent the onset and aggravation of the new coronavirus. In an independent interview with NHK, he said to us in Japan, "The effect has been confirmed in the countries where the vaccine has been introduced. I want you to have hope."

A series of hardships

Dr. Katalin Kariko, a scientist from Hungary, went to the United States after graduating from university to study one of the genetic substances, "mRNA".


However, the research results were not easily evaluated, and the 40 years of research life was a series of hardships, such as the company refusing to apply for a grant and the position being demoted at the university to which I belonged.



In 2005, he and his colleague, Professor Drew Weissman, announced the innovative research results that led to the development of this vaccine, but this also did not attract attention, and the cost of renting a university laboratory after that. In 2013, I moved to the German company BioNTech.

For many years, it has been thought that it is difficult to use the genetic substance "mRNA" as a material for medicines, because it is decomposed as soon as it is put into the body and causes an inflammatory reaction.


However, Dr. Calico and colleagues discovered that replacing one of the substances that make up mRNA, "uridine," with "pseudouridine" suppresses the inflammatory response.


Last year, a new coronavirus vaccine was developed using this technology.



Both the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which are currently being inoculated in Japan, and the vaccine of Moderna use this technology, and researchers in Europe and the United States say that this research result, which holds the key to practical application, is Nobel. Some say it deserves an award.

"The real hero is a medical worker, etc."

In a solo interview with NHK, Dr. Calico said, "Even when things don't go as expected, I've been focused on what I can do without being swayed by the voices of others. Some people call me a'hero', but it's true. Heroes aren't me, they're the people at the forefront of the risk of infection, such as healthcare professionals and cleaning workers. "



On top of that, he told us in Japan, "In some countries where vaccination has progressed, the vaccine is returning to normal life, and the effectiveness of the vaccine has been confirmed. I have to spend a while carefully, but I want you to have hope. ".

What is "mRNA vaccine"?

The vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and the Moderna vaccine are both called "mRNA vaccines".



The surface of the new coronavirus has protrusions called "spike proteins," which the virus uses as a foothold to infect cells.

The genetic substance mRNA corresponds to the so-called "blueprint" of this protrusion, and when vaccinated, only the protrusion of the virus is made in the body based on this.



The immune system works by these protrusions, and "antibodies" that attack the virus are produced in the body, so it is said that vaccination in advance has the effect of preventing the onset and aggravation.



The idea of ​​using mRNA as a vaccine has been around for a long time, but it was thought to be difficult for researchers to realize because it is recognized as a foreign substance and causes an inflammatory reaction when it is put into the body.

Under these circumstances, Dr. Calico noted in a joint research with Professor Drew Weissman, who was at the same University of Pennsylvania at the time, that another RNA called "tRNA" in the cell does not cause an inflammatory reaction.


In 2005, we published a paper stating that the inflammatory response can be suppressed by replacing one of the substances that make up mRNA, "uridine," with "pseudouridine," which is common in tRNA.



In 2008, it also revealed that replacing it with a specific pseudouridine dramatically increased the efficiency with which the desired protein was produced.



Dr. Calico and his colleagues received the Rosenstiel Award, an American medical award, which has received many Nobel laureates for their contributions to the development of basic medicine last year.


"The work of Dr. Calico and colleagues was of paramount importance to the development of the mRNA vaccine, a phenomenal achievement that will radically change the fight against the virus," said James Haver, chair of the award's selection committee. Will use this technology to produce many vaccines quickly. "

40 years of hardship away from home

Born in Hungary, Dr. Calico grew up in a provincial city about 150 kilometers east of the capital Budapest.

My parents ran a butcher shop.


After getting a PhD in biochemistry from university, I worked as a researcher at a local research institute, but in 1985, my husband and daughter moved to the United States because the research funds were cut off.

At that time, Hungary was a socialist system and could not freely take out foreign currencies, so when leaving the country, Dr. Calico put a total of £ 900 in the teddy bear that his two-year-old daughter had. I brought it to the United States.

In the United States, he worked as a researcher and assistant professor at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania, devoting himself to research on mRNA and the like.


However, the research results were not easily evaluated, and it was said that the application for the subsidy was refused by the company and the position of the university to which he belonged was demoted.



Under such circumstances, I met Professor Drew Weissman, who was researching HIV vaccine development after exchanging words when using a copy machine at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2005, opened the way to this vaccine development. The research results were jointly announced.


However, this treatise was also not noticed at the time, and in 2010 the university sold the related patent to a company.

German company BioNTech pays attention to this research result while many researchers are unaware of the possibility.

Dr. Calico, who was invited to the company, became vice president in 2013, and has been a senior vice president since then.



In March of last year, BioNTech announced that it would start developing a new coronavirus vaccine using mRNA with Pfizer, a major American pharmaceutical company, which had been jointly researched for some time.

After astonishing the world with a high efficacy of 95% in clinical trials, vaccination of the general public began in December last year, just nine months after the announcement of the joint development.

The achievements of Dr. Calico and others have been recognized around the world.

"Gives hope for a pandemic convergence"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the U.S. government, said in February, "We had two vaccines in less than a year. Both are mRNA vaccines that are more than 90% effective. All of them are based on the research results published by Dr. Calico et al. In 2005. They gave the world hope for pandemic convergence and opened up further possibilities for vaccines, "said Dr. Calico. We evaluated the research results of these.



The British newspaper, The Guardian, said, "Dr. Calico is a pioneer in the technology of the new corona vaccine. A researcher who went to the United States to hide a small amount of money in a stuffed bear in search of an environment as a researcher is now the Nobel Prize. It is said to be a strong candidate for. "



In addition, the French news channel "France24" said, "Dr. Calico spent many years outside the center of the researcher. Dr. Calico and his collaborator Professor Weissmann are now the favorite of the Nobel Medical and Physiology Awards. It is a candidate. "

Hiromi Muramatsu, a senior researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, has been working with Dr. Calico at the University of Pennsylvania and German companies for over a decade.



Mr. Muramatsu recalled Dr. Calico, who was absorbed in his research, saying, "I was a hobbyist, and I read treatises every day, saying,'I can read treatises at home on Saturdays and Sundays.'"


He added, "I was a person who cherishes the results of the experiment, even if it was not what I expected. I was not dragged by the good results and proceeded with the research by accepting the data. I thought this was the true science." ..



"There are cases where even innovative research like her does not receive subsidies, so even if it is a Nobel Prize-class achievement, I think there are many things that have disappeared unobtrusively." Said.