Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology – 2015
Nobel Prize in Medicine will be awarded for the fight against malaria and parasite worms
The 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology was awarded to American parasitologist William C. Campbell and Japanese microbiologist Satoshi Omura. The second half of the prize will be awarded to a Chinese doctor, a specialist in folk medicine Yuyu Tu (Youyou Tu). The message about this appeared at 12:30 Moscow time on the website of the award.
Here and below are images from the website of the Nobel Committee – VM.
The 2015 laureates were awarded this honor for new means of treating human diseases caused by parasitic organisms. Satoshi Omura was looking for new strains of bacteria (streptomyces) in the soils of Japan, selecting the most promising bioactive components. Parasitologist William Campbell acquired cultured Omura bacteria and found out that one of them (Streptomyces avermitilis) is extremely effective against parasites of humans and animals. Based on the bioactive substance of these microorganisms, scientists have created the drug avermectin (and then the more effective ivermectin). Thanks to these drugs, it was possible to deal a powerful blow to two serious diseases – onchocerciasis (river blindness) and elephant disease.
Chinese woman Yu Tu began her work during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, in the late 1960s. At that time, China was helping North Vietnam fight the United States, and malaria was one of the main causes of death at the front. At Ho Chi Minh's personal request, Mao Zedong created a secret project to find a new drug, since traditional methods of combating malaria (quinine and chloroquine) were no longer so effective. Yu Tu was appointed head of the department that dealt with folk remedies. She collected 240 traditional recipes and tested them on laboratory mice. The most effective was the extract of the Artemisia annua plant (annual wormwood), which contains the substance artemisinin. It was he who, killing malaria parasites at an early stage of their development, became the main modern antimalarial drug.
327 scientists were nominated for the award in 2015, 57 of them for the first time.
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According to tradition, an official award ceremony will be held in Stockholm on December 10, 2015, the day of Alfred Nobel's death. The prize will be presented to the laureates by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The amount of monetary remuneration this year will be about 950 thousand dollars (for all laureates of the prize in medicine and physiology). The reduction in the amount of the premium (which is usually at least one million dollars) is due to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Swedish krona.
According to the will of Alfred Nobel, the winner of the prize in medicine and physiology is determined by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. It consists of five permanent members, who can also invite outside experts for consultations.
Russians have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology twice: in 1904, the prize was awarded to Ivan Pavlov, and in 1908 – to Ilya Mechnikov.
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05.10.2015