Pope Francis has appointed Nobel Laureate Katalin Karikó as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Pontificia Accademia per la Vita), the Holy See Press Office said. The announcement noted that Katalin Karikó’s scientific research led to the development of the mRNA-based vaccine against Covid-19, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023. The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded in 1994 and deals with bioethical issues, the focus of which is the protection of life. The academy consists of a maximum of seventy members, who are appointed by the Pope for five years.