The First Shots

A month ago, I learned about Katalin Karikó as I was reading Brendan Borrell’s The First Shots. She developed the modified mRNA (from which Moderna gets its name) that made possible the mRNA vaccines. The book describes how the University of Pennsylvania squandered her interest in the patent for her work by selling the rights to a company called Epicentre. Eventually, Moderna licensed the patent from Epicentre to complement the work of Derrick Rossi.

In an interview, she also credits Paul Krieg and Douglas Melton for their contributions.

As a recipient of 3 doses of the Moderna vaccine, I’m thankful to these researchers and was glad to read this book.