The first time I talked to Dr. Katalin Karikó on the phone, it was late 2020. I knew that Karikó had helped create mRNA vaccines — the ones developed by pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer/BioNTech (where Karikó works) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic — and I expected to discuss science.
Instead, I unexpectedly found myself wishing I knew how to speak Hungarian.
