From vaccines to space exploration: a list of scientific breakthroughs we will be talking about in 2023. Vaccines The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a revolution in medicine. Where mRNA vaccines used to be primarily an experimental solution, now they have become mainstream. In 2023, BioNTech will begin the first human trials of mRNA vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and herpes. Moderna is developing mRNA vaccines against viruses that cause genital herpes and shingles.