The central sentence in Katalin Karikó’s description of her life and research is almost exactly in the middle of her book: “I would do it. I just had to.” It was this attitude that describes the arduous path of a Hungarian butcher’s daughter into science and the Nobel Prize in Medicine as briefly as it does.
Short, memorable sentences are the hallmark of her book, which tells the story of a revolution: research on the basis of which new vaccines could be developed that protected millions of people from the life-threatening consequences of infection with the corona virus – the mRNA virus. Vaccines.
At the same time, it is a report about the incredible perseverance of a pioneer in biochemistry, about the belief in her own path and the science behind the vaccines. The fact that this also applies to the German edition is exceptionally acknowledged by the translator Elisabeth Liebl. Rarely does a non-fiction book make it so clear how research works, what resistance and failures, how many failed experiments have to be overcome before success becomes apparent. But, according to another key sentence in this book: “Experiments are never wrong, only our expectations are.” And then it just means: all over again. Giving up was never an option for Katalin Karikó. Jürgen Nakott
Katalin Kariko
breakthrough
My life for research
btb, 352 p., € 24,—
ISBN 978-3-442-76286-6