Before the pandemic, the technology was only in its early stages, but today it is being distributed to millions of people worldwide to protect them from the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Researchers are exploring the potential of mRNA technology to treat different ailments, including cancer.
When asked about the laureates, the Nobel Prize committee commented, "The laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times."
Vaccines condition the immune system to identify and destroy infectious pathogens.
Historically, vaccines have been created using inactivated or weakened strains of the original virus or bacterium, or by employing small pieces of the infectious agent.
As opposed to traditional immunizations, mRNA vaccines take a novel approach.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines used mRNA technology to combat the Covid pandemic.
When Professors Kariko and Weissman first crossed paths at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1990s, their shared interest in mRNA was considered a scientific backwater.
"I would go to meetings and present what I was working on, and people would look at me and say: 'Well, that's very nice, but why don't you do something worthwhile with your time mRNA will never work.' But Katie and I kept pushing," Professor Wiseman told the BBC's Newshour programme.
Professor Kaliko said that she initially felt it was "just a joke" when they found out they had won the prize.
To that end, Professor Weissman remarked, "I was, you know, sort of overjoyed and then disbelief, and a little bit suspecting that there was some anti-vaxxer playing a prank on us."
"But when we saw the announcement, we knew it was real and there was just a fantastic feeling."
The mRNA Covid vaccination provides the genetic blueprint for producing a single coronavirus protein.
Injection triggers massive viral protein production in human cells.
In response to these "foreign" antigens, the immune system launches an attack, gains valuable experience fighting the virus, and is better prepared to do so in future infections.
The basic premise of the technology is that, with the appropriate genetic instructions, a vaccine may be developed quickly against practically any disease.
As a result, it is significantly more efficient and adaptable than prior methods of vaccine creation.
Technology is even being used in experimental settings to train people's immune systems to combat cancer.
When developing a vaccination against cancer, scientists first examine a patient's tumour to identify aberrant proteins produced by cancer that is not present in healthy tissue.
Important steps toward developing mRNA vaccines were taken by Professors Kariko and Weissman.
