Karikó co-founded and was CEO of RNARx from 2006 to 2013.[7] From 2013 to 2022, she was associated withBioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, first as a vice president and promoted to senior vice president in 2019.[8] In 2022, she left BioNTech to devote more time to research.[9] In 2021, she received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Szeged in Hungary,[10] where she has since become a professor.[11] While Karikó has also been associated with theUniversity of Pennsylvania, which would benefit financially from her eventual discovery, the university had actively discouraged her from pursuing research by underfunding and deprioritizing work on mRNA.[12][13] After beingdemoted by the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, Karikó was never grantedtenure and joined BioNTech in 2013 after the university had declined to reinstate her.[14][15]
Karikó's work includes scientific research on RNA-mediated immune activation, resulting in the co-discovery with Drew Weissman of thenucleoside modifications that suppress theimmunogenicity of RNA.[16][17][18] This is seen as a further contribution to the therapeutic use of mRNA.[19] Together with Weissman, she holdsUnited States patents for the application of non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA. This technology has been licensed by BioNTech andModerna to develop their protein replacement technologies, but it was also used for theirCOVID-19 vaccines.[20]
Katalin Karikó was born inSzolnok,[26] and grew up inKisújszállás, Hungary, in a small home without running water, a refrigerator, or television.[27] Her father János[28] was a butcher, and her mother was a bookkeeper.[29][27][1] Her father was punished for participating in therevolt of 1956.[30] She excelled in science during her primary education, earning third place in Hungary in a biology competition.[27]
A 2024 retrospective by the University of Szeged further documents Karikó's upbringing in Kisújszállás, Hungary, where her early passion for chemistry and biology was nurtured through academic competitions, achieving top national rankings by eighth grade. This foundation is recognized as a key influence on her later breakthroughs in mRNA research.[31]
In 1985, her lab at the BRC lost its funding,[27] and Karikó sought work at institutions in other countries. After being offered a research position byRobert J. Suhadolnik ofTemple University,[35] Karikó left Hungary for the United States with her husband andtwo-year-old daughter,[27] carrying her daughter's teddy bear stuffed with £900 that they had received from selling their car[36][37] and exchanging currency on theblack market.[38]
Between 1985 and 1988, Karikó was a postdoctoral fellow atTemple University in Philadelphia. Karikó participated in a clinical trial in which patients with AIDS,hematologic diseases, andchronic fatigue syndrome were treated withdouble-stranded RNA (dsRNA). At the time, this was considered groundbreaking research, as the molecular mechanism ofinterferon induction by dsRNA was not known, although the antiviral andantineoplastic effects of interferons were well-documented.[39]
In 1988, Karikó accepted a job atJohns Hopkins University without first informing her lab advisor Suhadolnik of her intention to leave Temple, as recounted inGregory Zuckerman's 2021 bookA Shot to Save the World. Suhadolnik told her that if she went to Johns Hopkins, he would have herdeported, and subsequently reported her to U.S. immigration authorities, claiming that she was "illegally" in the United States. In the time it took her to successfully challenge the resulting extradition order, Johns Hopkins withdrew the job offer. Suhadolnik "continued bad-mouthing Karikó, making it impossible for her to get a new position" at other institutions, until she met a researcher atBethesda Naval Hospital who "had his own difficult history with Suhadolnik".[40] Karikó subsequently confirmed that the incident had happened as Zuckerman described, but emphasized that "more importantly I was always grateful to [Suhadolnik for] sending me theIAP66 form in 1985, for the opportunity he gave me to work in his lab", noting that "when I gave a lecture [at Temple, a] couple of years later, I thanked him for the science I learned from him."[41] From 1988 to 1989, she worked at theUniformed Services University of the Health Sciences inBethesda, Maryland[42] where she worked with signal protein interferons.[33]
In 1989, she was hired by theUniversity of Pennsylvania to work withcardiologist Elliot Barnathan onmessenger RNA (mRNA).[27] In 1990, while anadjunct professor at thePerelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Karikó submitted her first grant application in which she proposed establishing mRNA-basedgene therapy.[8] Ever since, mRNA-based therapy has been Karikó's primary research interest. However, in the 1990s, mRNA fell out of favor as many researchers, biotechs, and pharmaceutical companies doubted its potential. Though supported by Elliot Barnathan (who left UPenn in 1997) andDavid Langer (who then hired her), Karikó found it difficult to gain funding.[43][44] She was initially on track to become a full professor, but after repeated grant rejections the university demoted her in 1995.[20][45] Nevertheless, she chose to remain and continue her mRNA research.[43][46]
Karikó (right) with Drew Weissman in 2022
In 1997, she metDrew Weissman, a professor ofimmunology who had recently arrived at the University of Pennsylvania.[47] They began to exchange ideas and then to collaborate. Weissman's funding was critical in helping Karikó to continue and extend her research[43][46] and the combination of Weissman's immunology and Karikó's biochemistry was extremely effective.[44] They began to move the technology forward, solving problems one at a time, and eventually gaining recognition. Weissman has commented "We had to fight the entire way."[43][46] Karikó's persistence was noted as exceptional against the norms of academic research work conditions.[48][33][4]
Kate was really just unbelievable... She was always incredibly inquisitive. She read voraciously. She would always know the latest technology or the latest paper, even if it was in a totally different area, and she'd put two and two together and say, 'Well why don't we do this?' Or, 'Why don't we try this formulation?'
Before 2005, a major problem with the proposed therapeutic use of mRNA was that in vivo use led to inflammatory reactions.[3] A key insight came about when Karikó focused on whytransfer RNA (tRNA), used as acontrol in an experiment, did not provoke the same immune reaction as mRNA.[1] A series of landmark studies beginning in 2005 demonstrated that while synthetic mRNA was highly inflammatory, tRNA was noninflammatory. Karikó and Weissman determined how specific nucleoside modifications in mRNA led to a reduced immune response:[46][3] by replacinguridine withpseudouridine.[49] Their key finding of a chemical modification of mRNA to render it non-immunogenic was rejected by the journalsNature andScience, but eventually accepted by the publicationImmunity.[50][16]
Another important achievement by the researchers was the development of a delivery technique to package the mRNA inlipid nanoparticles, a novel pharmaceutical drug delivery system for mRNA. The mRNA is injected into tiny fat droplets (lipid nanoparticles) which protect the fragile molecule until it can reach the desired area of the body.[26][51][52] They demonstrated its effectiveness in animals.[53]
Karikó and Weissman founded a small company, RNARx, and in 2006 and 2013 received patents for the use of several modified nucleosides to reduce the antiviral immune response to mRNA. Soon afterward, the University of Pennsylvania sold the intellectual property license to Gary Dahl, the head of a lab supply company that eventually became Cellscript.[54] Weeks later,Flagship Pioneering, theventure capital company backingModerna, contacted her in an attempt to license the patent, at which point Karikó had to tell them it was no longer available.[8]
In 2006, Katalin Karikó reached out to biochemist Ian MacLachlan to work with him on the chemically altered mRNA.[55] Initially, MacLachlan and Tekmira turned away from the collaboration. Karikó wanted to team up with Ian MacLachlan because he was the leader of a team that helped advance mRNA technology. Karikó was working on establishing the formulatedlipid nanoparticle delivery system that encapsulates mRNA in a dense particle through a mixing process.[56][57]
In early 2013, Karikó heard of Moderna's $240 million deal withAstraZeneca to develop aVascular endothelial growth factor mRNA. Karikó realized that she would not get a chance to apply her experience with mRNA at the University of Pennsylvania, so she took a role as vice president atBioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals[8] (and subsequently became a senior vice president in 2019), while maintaining an adjunct professorship at the University.[58]
During Nobel Week 2023, Karikó remarked in an interview, "I dreamt about doing research, not getting an award," emphasizing her lifelong dedication to discovery over recognition and the central role of perseverance in her scientific path.[59][citation needed]
In November 2024, Karikó returned to Temple University's Hill College House and delivered a public lecture recounting her Nobel Prize experience including the iconic early morning notification and encouraging students to pursue research with persistence and enthusiasm.[60][citation needed]
Then in May 2025, Karikó delivered the prestigious Mendel Lecture at the European Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting, where she discussed clinical applications of mRNA therapeutics and reflected on the collaborative efforts that enabled rapid COVID‑19 vaccine development.[61][citation needed]
Karikó's research and its specializations have a broad impact with potential implications for areas such as the generation ofpluripotent stem cells, and messenger RNA-basedgene therapy, as well as "a new class of drugs".[43][62]
Karikó's work laid the foundation forBioNTech andModerna to create therapeutic mRNAs that do not induce an immune response.[8] In 2020, Karikó and Weissman's technology was used in vaccines forCOVID-19 produced by BioNTech and its partnerPfizer[19][46] and by Moderna. The mRNA vaccines were developed and approved for use at unprecedented speed, and demonstrated over 90% efficacy. In addition to vaccines for infectious diseases, mRNA has potential applications in treatment of some cancers,[63] cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases[64][65][66] includingischemia.[67]
Katalin Karikó donated the more than half a million dollars she received from her Nobel Prize to her former alma mater, the University of Szeged on 16 April 2024.[71][72]
In 2022, Karikó was awarded VinFuture Grand Prize from the VinFuture Foundation.[73]
In 2022, Karikó was awardedThe Novo Nordisk Prize along withDrew Weissman for their pioneering forces for more than a decade in discovering a nucleoside-modified form of mRNA.[74]
Karikó is married to Béla Francia, and they are the parents of two-time Olympic gold medalist rowerSusan Francia.[19] Their grandson was born in the U.S. in February 2021 to their daughter and son-in-law, architect Ryan Amos.[80][81]
On 10 June 2021,The Daily podcast fromThe New York Times highlighted Karikó's career, emphasizing the many challenges she had to overcome before her work was recognized.[82]
In November 2021, the US online publicationGlamour named her a Woman of the Year.[83]
In 2023, two children's books were released about her:Never Give Up: Dr. Kati Karikó and the Race for the Future of Vaccines, by Debbie Dadey and Juliana Oakley,[84][85] andKati's Tiny Messengers: Dr. Katalin Karikó and the Battle Against COVID-19, by Megan Hoyt and Vivien Mildenberger.[86]
Katalin Karikó's autobiography was published byCrown Publishing Group on 10 October 2023, just days after she won the Nobel Prize.[87][88][89] It is titledBreaking Through: My Life in Science.[90] The book became the best-selling non-fiction book in Hungary in 2023, and was awarded the Libri Literary Prize in June 2024[91] and the ASIMOV Prize in May 2025.[92] By this time, her memoir had been translated into 9 languages.[93]
Busch-Vishniac, Ilene; Busch, Lauren; Tietjen, Jill (2024). "Chapter 49. Katalin Karikó".Women in the National Inventors Hall of Fame: The First 50 Years. Springer Nature.ISBN978-3-031-75525-5.
^abcdefDe George, Matthew (2021)."The Vaccine Trenches"(PDF).The Pennsylvania Gazette. No. May/June. pp. 42–49.Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved4 October 2023.
^abFranzoni, Chiara; Stephan, Paula; Veugelers, Reinhilde (2021). Funding Risky Research (Report). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.doi:10.3386/w28905.
^Richard Nafshun, Oregon State University (2 September 2024). "Xia awarded 2024 Pauling Medal".C&EN Global Enterprise.102 (27): 33.doi:10.1021/cen-10227-acsnews5.ISSN2474-7408.
^Krisztina, Balogh (25 February 2021)."Nagymama lett Karikó Katalin".index.hu (in Hungarian).Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved8 March 2021.
^"Csodaszép Karikó Katalin unokája" [Katalin Karikó's beautiful grandson].szeged.hu (in Hungarian). 1 March 2021.Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved8 March 2021.
