Scientists who helped identify Hepatitis C virus win 2020 Nobel Medicine Prize
[STOCKHOLM] Two Americans and a Briton won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for work in identifying the Hepatitis C virus, which causes cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The discoveries by scientists Harvey Alter, Charles Rice and Briton Michael Houghton meant there was now a chance of eradicating the Hepatitis C virus completely, the award-giving body said.
"Prior to their work, the discovery of the Hepatitis A and B viruses had been critical steps forward," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement on awarding the prize of US$1.1 million.
"The discovery of Hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives." While the Nobel awards will go ahead as planned this year, they have been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Nobel Foundation has cancelled the traditional banquet, which forms the centre-piece of the celebrations in December, and will hand out the medals and diplomas in a televised event rather than live in Stockholm.
This year's winners will be invited to celebrate alongside the 2021 laureates, assuming the pandemic has eased by then.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year.
The prizes for achievements in science, peace and literature have been awarded since 1901 and were created in the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Lifestyle
Former Zouk morphs into mod-Asian Jiak Kim House, serving laksa pasta and mushroom bak kut teh
Massimo Bottura lends star power to pizza and pasta at Torno Subito
Victor Liong pairs Aussie and Asian food with mixed results at Artyzen’s Quenino restaurant
If Jay Chou likes Ju Xing’s zi char, you might too
Mod-Sin cooking izakaya style at Focal
What the fish? Diving for flavour at Fysh – Aussie chef Josh Niland’s Singapore debut