DW
Science & Medicine

Drew Weissman

Who

Drew Weissman · Science & Medicine

What

Nucleoside base modifications enabling effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

When

1959, Lexington, Massachusetts, United States

Where

United States (Boston · National Institutes of Health · University of Pennsylvania)

Biography

Drew Weissman is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Nucleoside base modifications enabling effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

How & why

Born to a Jewish family in Massachusetts, Weissman is a physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. Over years of collaboration with Katalin Karikó, he found that chemically modifying the building blocks (nucleosides) of messenger RNA lets it enter cells without provoking a dangerous inflammatory response, making mRNA usable as a medicine. This breakthrough enabled the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and earned them the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Sources & external links

Verify and go deeper with these external references.

Source: Jinfo.org / Nobel Prize Medicine 2023

Contributions & Sources

Nucleoside base modifications enabling effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

2023

Source: Jinfo.org / Nobel Prize Medicine 2023