This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34441744
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Nobel Prize for parasitic disease discoveries | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been split two ways for groundbreaking work on parasitic diseases. | The Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been split two ways for groundbreaking work on parasitic diseases. |
William C Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura found a new drug against infections caused by roundworm parasites. | |
Youyou Tu shares the prize for her discovery of a therapy against malaria. | Youyou Tu shares the prize for her discovery of a therapy against malaria. |
The Nobel committee said the work had changed the lives of the hundreds of millions of people affected by these diseases. | The Nobel committee said the work had changed the lives of the hundreds of millions of people affected by these diseases. |
The mosquito-borne disease malaria kills more than 450,000 people each year around the world, with billions more at risk of catching the infection. | The mosquito-borne disease malaria kills more than 450,000 people each year around the world, with billions more at risk of catching the infection. |
Parasitic worms affect a third of the world's population and cause a number of illnesses, including River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis. | Parasitic worms affect a third of the world's population and cause a number of illnesses, including River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis. |
Parasites | Parasites |
After decades of limited progress, the discovery of the two new drugs - Ivermectin for River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, and Artemisinin for malaria - was a game changer. | |
Efforts to eradicate malaria had been failing - older drugs were losing their potency - and the disease was on the rise. | |
Prof Youyou Tu, who in the 1960s had recently graduated from the Pharmacy Department at Beijing Medical University, looked to traditional herbal medicine to find a potential therapy. | |
She took an extract from the plant called Artemisia annua or Sweet wormwood and began testing it on malaria parasites. | |
The component, later called Artemisinin, was highly effective at killing them. | |
Today, the drug is used around the world in combination with other malaria medicines. | |
In Africa alone, this is saving more than 100,000 lives every year. | |
Tu is the 13th woman to win this Nobel Prize. | |
She shares the award with two men who found a treatment for another parasite - roundworm. | |
Their drug, Ivermectin, is so successful that roundworm diseases are on the verge of eradication. | |
Satoshi Ōmura, a Japanese microbiologist, made his discovery after studying microbes in soils samples. | |
He selected a number of promising candidates that he though might work as a weapon against diseases. | |
Previous winners of the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine | Previous winners of the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine |
2014 - Three scientists - John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser - for discovering the brain's navigating system. | 2014 - Three scientists - John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser - for discovering the brain's navigating system. |
2013 - James Rothman, Randy Schekman, and Thomas Sudhof for their discovery of how cells precisely transport material. | 2013 - James Rothman, Randy Schekman, and Thomas Sudhof for their discovery of how cells precisely transport material. |
2012 - Two pioneers of stem cell research - John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka - were awarded the Nobel after changing adult cells into stem cells. | 2012 - Two pioneers of stem cell research - John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka - were awarded the Nobel after changing adult cells into stem cells. |
2011 - Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann and Ralph Steinman shared the prize after revolutionising the understanding of how the body fights infection. | 2011 - Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann and Ralph Steinman shared the prize after revolutionising the understanding of how the body fights infection. |
2010 - Robert Edwards for devising the fertility treatment IVF which led to the first "test tube baby" in July 1978. | 2010 - Robert Edwards for devising the fertility treatment IVF which led to the first "test tube baby" in July 1978. |
2009 - Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for finding the telomeres at the ends of chromosomes. | 2009 - Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for finding the telomeres at the ends of chromosomes. |