Nobel prize for Medicine awarded for treatments for malaria and roundworm parasites

[muriel_volestrangler]

William C Campbell, Satoshi Ōmura and Youyou Tu win Nobel prize in medicine

Three scientists from Ireland, Japan and China have won the Nobel prize in medicine for discoveries that helped doctors fight malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites.

The judges in Stockholm awarded the prize to William C Campbell, Satoshi Ōmura and Youyou Tu – the first ever Chinese medicine laureate.

Campbell and Ōmura were cited for discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites, while Tu was rewarded for discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria.

“The two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually,” the committee said. “The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immensurable.”

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/oct/05/william-c-campbell-satoshi-omura-and-youyou-tu-win-nobel-prize-in-medicine

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2015/

[longship]

1. Great!

Physics and Chemistry prizes yet to come.
Physics, possibly tomorrow; chemistry, the day after.

R&K

[Zoonart]

2. WONDERFUL!

So wonderful! Thank you, President Carter, for shedding the international light on this issue.
Jimmy, you are an authentic hero in a world of plastic ones.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. And I've found something good Mao did for humanity

The New Scientist ran a lengthy profile of Tu – the 12th woman to win the medicine prize – shortly after she won the Lasker prize in 2011. Tu was part of a secret drug discovery project set up by Mao Zedong in 1967 known only as Project 523. She was sent to Hainan province to see the impact of malaria for herself, meaning she had to leave her daughter behind at a local nursery. When she came back she says her daughter did not recognise her.