The Scientist Who Helped Make mRNA Medicine Possible

Drew Weissman spent years studying how the immune system reacts to RNA, work that led to one of modern medicine’s most consequential breakthroughs. After meeting Katalin Karikó at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, he combined immunology with her RNA expertise. Their 2005 discovery showed that modified nucleosides could prevent synthetic mRNA from triggering damaging inflammation. Later work improved protein production and helped establish the platform behind the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

The rapid arrival of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines was not an overnight invention. It rested on decades of basic research into why synthetic RNA provoked the immune system and how that response could be controlled. Drew Weissman's collaboration with Katalin Karikó solved a fundamental biological obstacle and helped turn mRNA into a practical therapeutic platform. Their story shows how persistence, complementary expertise and seemingly narrow laboratory questions can ultimately transform global medicine.