COVID vaccine scientists win Nobel Prize in medicine

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2023

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The Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to two scientists for their research which led to the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

The accolade, among the most prestigious in the scientific world, went to Katalin Kariko, from Hungary, and Drew Weissman, from the United States.

“Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” the panel that awarded the prize said.

Both COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna use something called messenger RNA (mRNA) to send genetic instructions to the body’s cells to recognise and destroy a particular part of the coronavirus called the spike protein.

When the body develops an immune response to this spike protein it is then able to fight off the coronavirus without having ever been exposed to the virus itself.

Ms Kariko is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

She was senior vice president and head of RNA protein replacement at BioNTech until 2022 and has since acted as an adviser to the German firm.

Mr Weismann performed his prize-winning research with Ms Kariko at the University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announced the prize and said both scientists were “overwhelmed” by the news when he contacted them.

“This year’s Nobel Prize recognises their basic science discovery that fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system, and had a major impact on society during the recent pandemic,” said Rickard Sandberg, a member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute.

“Together they have saved millions of lives, prevented severe COVID-19, reduced the overall disease burden and enabled societies to open up again.”

Dr Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, described the mRNA vaccines as a “game changer” in helping to shut down the coronavirus pandemic, crediting the jabs with saving millions of lives.

“If it hadn’t been for the mRNA technology, COVID would have been much worse,” he said.

“Vaccines generally were the turning point in slowing down COVID and the mRNA vaccines were just so much better than all the others.

“We would likely only now be coming out of the depths of COVID without the mRNA vaccines,” he added.

Monday’s announcement in Stockholm, Sweden, kicks off this year’s awards with the remaining five to be unveiled in the coming days.

The prizes, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel, and are awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, literature and peace, and in later years also for economics.

They carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (£820,000). The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, who died in 1896.

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More than a dozen people missing after tourist boat sinks off coast of Egypt

Published

5 hours ago

November 25, 2024

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More than a dozen people missing after tourist boat sinks off coast of Egypt

More than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, officials have said.

The boat, Sea Story, was carrying 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 14 crew.

Authorities are searching for 17 people who are still missing, the governor of the Red Sea region said on Monday, adding that 28 people had been rescued.

The vessel was part of a diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam.

Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.

The boat had departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.

Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink.

The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.

According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.

The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.

The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv – as commander ‘sacked for lying about war progress’

Published

17 hours ago

November 25, 2024

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv - as commander 'sacked for lying about war progress'

Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.

Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.

Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.

Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.

“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.

“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”

Russia did not comment on the attack.

It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.

While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.

Russian war bloggers have long complained that units there are poorly supported and thrown into deadly battles for little tactical gain.

Russia’s ministry of defence has not commented on the reports.

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Russian forces capture ‘former British soldier’ fighting for Ukraine – reports

Published

19 hours ago

November 24, 2024

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Russian forces capture 'former British soldier' fighting for Ukraine - reports

Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.

In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.

He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.

He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”

He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.

“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.

“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”

In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.

He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.