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Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci:
New members in the Hall of Fame of German Research
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Uğur Şahin
(56) and
Özlem Türeci
(54), the developers of the first internationally approved vaccine against the corona pathogen Sars-CoV-2, were appointed to the Hall of Fame of German research on Thursday evening. For the vaccine, the couple used a novel formulation of the artificially synthesizable, programmable messenger molecule mRNA, which occurs naturally in living cells.
The two laureates not only do research as professors at the medical faculty of the University of Mainz, they are also founders and board members of the listed company Biontech. In its laboratories in the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital, the formula for the highly effective biomolecules and the methods for the large-scale industrial production of the vaccine, which was launched in late autumn 2020 under the brand name Comirnaty as a vaccine against the corona pandemic in the USA, the EU and approved in numerous other countries, has been used tens of millions of times and has avoided countless deaths worldwide.
The Hall of Fame of German Research is an initiative of manager magazin and annually honors scientists whose lifetime achievements made an outstanding contribution to the further development of research and thus made Germany more sustainable as a business location in international competition.
The format has been supported by the Darmstadt-based Merck Group since 2015. "
The mRNA technology, which the couple Türeci and Şahin co-developed, opens the door to a new generation of targeted vaccines and therapies for patients worldwide.
The appointment of both scientists to the Hall of Fame of German Research is highly deserved - I congratulate them warmly! "Commented Belén Garijo, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Merck, on the award.
The laureates thanked for the appointment: "It is a privilege for us to receive this extraordinary honor, with which the noblest intention of science is recognized and celebrated: to serve humanity."
Curious Mind Award to two young scientists
As part of the appointment ceremony for the new laureates, two young scientists were honored with a Curious Mind Award, whose excellent research already reveals important impulses and possible uses for the economy.
Each of these prizes is endowed with 7,500 euros.
Matthias May received an
award in the
"Materials and Active Ingredients"
category. The doctor of physics, who conducts research at the University of Ulm, is developing photoelectric fuel cells that extract hydrogen directly from water through the action of sunlight. The 37-year-old was able to achieve several efficiency world records in this technology, he holds three patents.
Michael Saliba received
the Curious Mind Award
in the "Mobility and Energy" category
.
The professor, director of the Institute for Photovoltaics, is developing so-called two-layer solar cells at the University of Stuttgart, in which a thin layer of so-called perovskite crystals is applied to the conventional silicon carrier layer of the power generator.
This increases the electricity yield significantly.
The 38-year-old is planning a company spin-off for the large-scale industrial production of these robust, highly efficient solar cells.
Due to the pandemic, the appointment ceremony took place in the virtual hall of fame in a small circle in Wiesbaden.
The event was digitally broadcast worldwide to previously registered guests from science, business and politics.
The Hall of Fame of German research now has 27 members, including Emmanuelle Charpentier, 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Harald zur Hausen, 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine, and Karlheinz Brandenburg, developer of the MP3 data compression method.