The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to two scientists for their research that led to the development of mRNA vaccines against it COVID-19.
The award went to Katalin Kariko from Hungary and Drew Weissman from the United States.
"Through their ground-breaking findings, which fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented pace of vaccine development during duration one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times," said the committee that awarded the prize.
"This year's Nobel Prize recognizes their seminal scientific discovery that fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system and had a significant impact on society during the recent pandemic," said Assembly Member Rickard Sandberg Nobel at Karolinska Institute. .
Monday's announcement in Stockholm, Sweden, kicked off this year's awards with the remaining five to be revealed in the coming days.
The prizes, first awarded 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.
The prize money is 11 million Swedish kroner (£820.000). The money they come from a bequest left by the creator of the award, who died in 1896.
