Hungarian biochemist Katalin Kariko attends the Semmelweis Ignac Award in Budapest, Hungary, May 25, 2021. Two scientists have received the Nobel Prize in drugs on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 for discoveries that enabled the growth of mRNA vaccines in opposition to COVID-19. The award was given to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. Karikó is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
| Photo Credit: AP
Hungarian-American biochemist Katalin Karikó has turn into the latest Laureate to be a part of the ranks of the numbered women who’ve received arguably the most prestigious award.
The 68-year-old biochemist and her colleague Drew Weissman had been honoured with the Prize for “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”
From 1901 to 2023, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to women 62 instances. Marie Curie remains to be the solely girl to have received the Prize twice–as soon as in 1903 for Physics and as soon as in 1911 for Chemistry.
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The winners of the Nobel Prize have traditionally been white males. However, in an effort to be extra inclusive, 5 years in the past, the head of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences requested nominating our bodies to make certain they don’t overlook “women or people of other ethnicities or nationalities in their nominations.”
While extra women have received the Prize, the variety of feminine winners in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics remains to be very low. This yr’s winner, Dr. Karikó, has turn into the 13th girl to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Only 4 women have been granted the Prize in Physics whereas eight women have received the Prize in Chemistry. The Prize for Economic Sciences has been awarded to solely two women.
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In the early years of the Nobel Prizes, the underrepresentation of numerous winners was typically attributed to the restricted variety inside the scientific neighborhood. However critics at the moment argue that the choice committees want to do a greater job of recognising breakthroughs achieved by feminine scientists and researchers from areas past Europe and North America.
