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Review — Breaking Through by Katalin Karikó
From Hungarian Communism to U.S. Labs: The Story of an Extraordinary Scientist
The first time I heard Katalin Karikó speak was on TV. She calmly answered questions about her life, questions she had answered countless times before. She spoke about the teddy bear filled with dollars, her butcher father, and the struggles of living in a foreign country. And the struggle of someone who firmly believes in their ideas but seems to be the only one.
Whether it was the studio lights or my own perception, I became convinced of one thing: Katalin had a light of vindication in her eyes. The same light as someone who succeeded against all odds and everyone.
I bought Katalin’s autobiography and devoured her words. At times, I even got emotional. But this doesn’t count, according to my wife, I get emotional very easily. I got angry when things didn’t go her way. And I wished I could tell her to celebrate her successes because she had earned them all.
I loved the story of Katalin Karikó, future Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, mother of mRNA vaccines, scientist-actually kutató, “researcher”-immigrant, strong, and stubborn woman.
The story begins in Kisújszállás, a rural village in 1950s Hungary, where she’s the daughter of a butcher…
