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Nobel prize in physiology or medicine – live! Nobel prize in medicine awarded to hypoxia researchers – live!
(32 minutes later)
The impact of work on how cells adapt to oxygen levels is relevant to everything from pregnancy to altitude sickness to cancer and wound healing.
The committee note that while it has long been known that oxygen is essential to sustain life, the molecular mechanisms that underpin how exactly cells adapt when oxygen supply drops or rises was something of a mystery. Until this year’s laureates set to work. They have unpicked how the activity of genes is regulated in response to varying levels of oxygen.
There we have it: this year’s award is split three ways between researchers who have delved into how cells sense oxygen availability and adapt in response to that. Sir Peter Ratcliffe is based at the Francis Crick Institute in London. Kaelin and Semenza are based at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University respectively.
BREAKING NEWS:The 2019 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.” pic.twitter.com/6m2LJclOoL
And here they are, the committee members have arrived...
I’m really regretting having a huge mug of coffee this morning. This is not the moment for a break...
The fog lifts. Journalists are rustling papers. Hush descends... Any minute now the committee members will walk in and spill the beans on this year’s winners.
As usual the committee has shared an awkward photograph of an official grinning happily while dialling the winners. But if past calls are anything to go by they are more likely to be met – at least at first – with doubt and suspicion than gasps of joy from the unsuspecting recipient.
After a few moments of confusion, the Swedish accent and repeated assurances presumably turns the dream into a reality.
However, not all calls go smoothly.
Physiology or medicine laureate May-Britt Moser said she initially didn’t want to take the call when she was phoned in 2014, as she didn’t recognise the number and was busy. Meanwhile the 2013 literature laureate, Alice Munro, didn’t pick up – and the committee were left talking to her voicemail, and 2010 chemistry laureate Martin Chalfie slept on as his phone rang, missing the call.
Someone is receiving exciting news from Thomas Perlmann, the Secretary of the Nobel Committee. Find out who! We’ll be breaking the news right here very soon.#NobelPrize Photo: Yanan Li pic.twitter.com/xAc0Qh5v04
For those who like to see the glint of excitement in the committee members’ eyes, you can follow the live video feed of the event here. At the moment it has a foggy filter, presumably to evoke the idea that the winners are currently shrouded in mystery.
What’s the point of the Nobel prizes? Good question. Fortunately my colleagues Ian Sample and Hannah Devlin have delved into the issue for you, looking at cases of misjudged awards, what actually happens at the ceremony, and whether the awards have a diversity problem: as the team point out, more men called John have won Nobels than have Africans.
Why not take a look while we are waiting for today’s event to kick off.
What's the point of Nobel prizes?
Each Nobel prize is set at nine million Swedish krona – that’s about £750,000. If there’s more than one winner, they have to split the cash. But the prestige is priceless. And that’s to say nothing of other perks: at the University of California, Berkeley, laureates get their own reserved car parking spaces.
My colleague Ian Sample hit a home run last year with his prediction that Allison would be a winner, which more or less exhausts our team’s luck for backing the right horse for the rest of the century. But there are no shortage of contenders for this year’s prize.
Among them are the scientists behind the gene-editing technique known as Crispr – although this has also been tipped for the chemistry prize.
If Crispr does win, it is a knotty issue as to which of the four key scientists involved in its development would be honoured. Even if the maximum number of awards were given, one of Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, George Church and Fang Zheng will be left empty handed.
Another multi-player possibility is optogenetics – a technique which, among other applications, allows researchers to turn neurons on or off using light. Again, it is not obvious who would receive the award as so many have been instrumental in its development. There is also the possibility this could win the chemistry prize.
And what about research into the microbiome – that collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi and more that live on and in our bodies, and have been found to play an important role in our health? Among pioneering the researchers in this area is Jeffrey Gordon at Washington University in St Louis.
Other possibilities include the researchers behind the discovery that particular genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk of breast cancer – a finding that became headline news when Angelina Jolie revealed she underwent a double mastectomy after genetic testing showed that she carried the BRCA1 gene. Mary-Claire King at the University of Washington and Mark Skolnick at the University of Utah are among the researchers who pioneered this work.
But it seems less likely that the prize would go to cancer research two years in a row.
What is becoming increasingly clear is the clear-cut divisions of chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine, have become blurred as techniques and understandings from one discipline are harnessed for another and new approaches and fields of research blossom.
Since it was first established in 1901, the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded 109 times to 216 scientists.Since it was first established in 1901, the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded 109 times to 216 scientists.
Last year’s winners were James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo, who shared the prize for their work on cancer treatments which involve harnessing the body’s immune system.Last year’s winners were James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo, who shared the prize for their work on cancer treatments which involve harnessing the body’s immune system.
You can read more about their work in this piece by my colleague Hannah Devlin:You can read more about their work in this piece by my colleague Hannah Devlin:
Another October, another collection of Nobel prizes. And as always, first up is the award in physiology or medicine. Somewhere around the world a phone is about the ring to tell a researcher that they have scooped the ultimate gong – and within the hour they will be headline news, fielding calls from journalists.Another October, another collection of Nobel prizes. And as always, first up is the award in physiology or medicine. Somewhere around the world a phone is about the ring to tell a researcher that they have scooped the ultimate gong – and within the hour they will be headline news, fielding calls from journalists.
The event today is being live-streamed from the Nobel assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and I’ll be here to share the build-up, winners and reaction with you.The event today is being live-streamed from the Nobel assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and I’ll be here to share the build-up, winners and reaction with you.
Today’s announcement is due no earlier than 10.30am UK time. But stay tuned for updates on the hot favourites, facts and figures, and a spot of history.Today’s announcement is due no earlier than 10.30am UK time. But stay tuned for updates on the hot favourites, facts and figures, and a spot of history.
The physics prize will be announced tomorrow and the chemistry prize on Wednesday, both from 10.45am UK time. Join us for live coverage of those as well!The physics prize will be announced tomorrow and the chemistry prize on Wednesday, both from 10.45am UK time. Join us for live coverage of those as well!