Nobel Prize 2023 in Medicine announced

Class24 2, Oct 2023

On 2nd October 2023, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute, located in Stockholm, Sweden, revealed the recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This year, the award has been given to Katalin Kariko, and Drew Weissman for the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. The Nobel Prize is a prestigious prize, given in six categories i.e. Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Peace, Economics science, and Literature. This article is very important for upcoming exams such as UPSC, SSC, Banking, and other state-level based exams.

About the Nobel Prize:

Established by	It was established by the will of Alfred Nobel (Dynamite inventor)
To Whom	This award is given to the person, who has conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.
First award	1901
Award categories	6 (Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Peace, Economics science, and Literature)
Prize ceremony	Stockholm, Sweden (in December every year)
Award	Gold Medal, Diploma, and Monetary prize
Share of Nobel Prize	Up to 3 persons can share the Nobel Prize. No award after death.
First recipient	In 1901, the first Nobel Prize was given in five categories. Physics: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (for the discovery of X-rays) Chemistry: Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff ( for his work on rates of chemical equilibrium, chemical reaction, and osmotic pressure) Physiology or Medicine: Emil Adolf von Behring (studied TB (Tuberculosis) and diphtheria bacteria) Literature: Sully Prudhomme ( for publishing young French poets) Peace: Jean Henry Dunant (humanitarian efforts) and Frédéric Passy (international peace conferences) In 1968, Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank established the Prize in Economic Sciences. Economic sciences: Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen (development of mathematical formulations of economics)
Nobel Prize committee	Physics: It is given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Chemistry: It is given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Physiology or Medicine: It is given by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet Literature: It is given by the Swedish Academy. Peace: It is given by the Norwegian Nobel Committee Economic sciences: It is the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Nobel Prize 2023 in Medicine:

In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2023 was given to Katalin Kariko (Hungarian-American biochemist) and Drew Weissman (American physician and scientist).

Katalin Kariko:
- She also became the 13th woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine.
- She also served as a senior vice president at BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to make the COVID-19 vaccines.
Drew Weissman:
- He is a professor and director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.
The award was announced by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, located in Stockholm, Sweden.
The award has been given for their discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA (messenger RiboNucleic Acid) vaccines against COVID-19.
The Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden on 10th December (the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death).

Some interesting Nobel Prize for Medicine facts:

Discovery	Year	Recipients
Discovery of the Hepatitis C virus	2020	Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice
Discoveries concerning yellow fever	1951	Max Theiler
Discovery of vitamin K	1943	Henrik Carl Peter Dam
Discovery of the chemical nature of vitamin K	1943	Edward Adelbert Doisy
Discovery of human blood groups	1930	Karl Landsteiner
Discovery of the antineuritic vitamin	1929	Christiaan Eijkman
Discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins	1929	Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins
Discovery of Insulin	1923	Frederick Grant Banting and John James Rickard Macleod

Indians won the Nobel Prize in Medicine:

Recipients

year

Reason

Har Gobind Khorana

1968

He was awarded for the interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis

Ronald Ross

1902

He was awarded for his work on malaria.

Through his study, he has shown how it enters the organism.

How many women won the Nobel Prize in Medicine?

As of 2023, 13 women have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The list of women recipients is as follows:

Recipients	year	Reason
Gerty Theresa Radnitz-Cori	1947	She was awarded for the discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow	1977	She was awarded for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones
Barbara [Eleanor] McClintock	1983	She was awarded for the discovery of mobile genetic elements
Rita Levi-Montalcini	1986	She was awarded for the discoveries of growth factors
Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion	1995	She was awarded for the discovery of concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development
Linda Buck-Brent	2004	She was awarded for the discovery of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi	2008	She was awarded for their discovery of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn	2009	She has shared her prize for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase
Carolyn Widney Greider-Comfort	2009
May-Britt Moser	2014	She has been awarded for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain
Tú Yōuyōu	2015	She has been awarded for the discovery of concerning a novel therapy (artemisinin) against Malaria
Katalin Karikó	2023	She has been awarded for the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19