2023 Nobel Prize Winners

Each year, the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden awards five Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology/medicine. The Nobel Prize is a prestigious achievement awarded “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind” as stated in the will of Alfred Nobel, whom the prize is in memory of. Some of the most well-known and highly regarded scientists are Nobel Prize winners such as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the man who discovered X-rays. While the Nobel Prize laureates are chosen at the beginning of October, the selection process is about a year long. This year the Nobel Prize announcements will take place on October second through the ninth.

On October 2, the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology was awarded to two scientists for their work on mRNA modifications which led to the creation of the first COVID-19 vaccines. Biochemists Katalin Karikó and Drew Weisman, both part of the University of Pennsylvania mRNA vaccine research team, changed our knowledge of how mRNA works in the body and specifically redefined our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system. Through their research, Karikó and Weisman demonstrated that mRNA with base modifications increased protein production when delivered to the body as well as reduced inflammatory responses compare to unmodified mRNA. This discovery paved the way for the future production of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and cleared major hurdles on the path in the creation of mRNA vaccines. By highlighting the importance of base modifications, the COVID-19 vaccine was able to be produced with more speed and flexibility. Karikó and Weisman were selected this year not only for their ground-breaking achievement but for also for their critical contribution during this major global health crisis.

On October 3, 2023 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to a trio who have created ultra-short pulses of light that can show electron movement within an atom. This discovery holds great potential for advancement in disease detection and diagnostics. The trio that won this award were scientists Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier. Anne L’Huillier is only the fifth woman to earn the Nobel Prize in physics since its beginning in 1901.

There are three more Nobel Prize winners to be announced this week. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced Wednesday October 4. The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced October 5, and the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday October 6.