Dear Friends and Students
We have been waiting for the COVID-19 Vaccine right? Vaccine Development is not an Instant Cake Making! It requires a strong established research foundation. The building blocks need to be ready to make advancements in Vaccine making to the COVID.
Katalin Karikó’s years of effort became the foundation of the COVID dose! Today she became the Year of the Woman-2020! Astonishing Researcher! Light in the Dark! Honey is Sweet! But, Honeybees life is not that Sweet!!
The greatness of Honeybee!
Honey bees tap about 20 Lakhs flowers and fly 80,000 km to make half a kilo or one pound (454 g) of honey. A single honey bee makes about 1.5 teaspoons of honey during its lifetime. Distance flew by a bee to collect half a kilo or one pound of honey = 2 Circumferences of Earth! Can you waste honey after hearing this fact?? Impossible right? (http://honeycouncil.ca/)
In my view, Katalin Karikó’s work is similar to Honeybee's! She spent decades developing therapeutic possibilities of mRNA, a component of DNA that is considered to be one of the main building blocks of life. mRNA is the foundation for the Covid vaccine!!
But, life is not that smooth for Katalin. Multiple setbacks, job losses, non-belief in her work but she stood. Convinced about her research.
Karikó (From Hungary) aspired to go to the US (American Dream) as funding and grants are smooth. Karikó, husband and young daughter (2-year-old) left Hungary. She joined Temple University in Philadelphia. She sold her car ($1,200) and stuffed it in her daughter’s teddy bear for safekeeping and moved to the US!
As part of mRNA research, Karikó's idea to fight disease was considered to be radical and financially risky to fund. She applied for a grant multiple times but every time got rejected. As a result, in 1995, she got demoted in her position. She got diagnosed with cancer at that time. Most lose enthusiasm and leave the research at this stage. But Karikó continued! Though she is a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, her salary was lower than the technician who worked next to her. She accepted the pay cut, demotion but continued in her research.
Karikó really fought with research and health! Finally, along with her colleague (Drew Weissman), she developed virus-fighting material.
Now Weissman and Karikó, are part of Germany-based BioNTech, who made the covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer. She is a senior vice president at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals.
See how life can change? In 2005, Karikó and Weissman published their study on mRNA. They filed a patent and established a company, but nobody was interested. Then, they licensed their technology to a small German company called BioNTech. What a miracle?
How co-founders come together? Is it a plan or an accident? Read this. A chance meeting with Drew Weissman in 1997 due to a shortage of photocopying machines in the department changed the course of her career. He is the co-patent holder of this research!
Personally, as a mother, Kariko is successful too. Karikó is the mother of two-time Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia (Women's rowing).
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman are having the potential to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine!
Katalin is hoping for mass vaccination to eradicate the virus’s threat! 2021 Wishes her all the best!
Your well-wisher
Ravi Saripalle
Join Inspire to Innovate Storytelling Movement (i2itm.blogspot.com)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katalin_Karik%C3%B3
Source Inspiration: https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/12/16/us/katalin-kariko-covid-19-vaccine-scientist-trnd/index.html
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