Trio win Nobel Prize in medicine for parasite therapies

Irish-born William Campbell, Satoshi Omura of Japan and China’s Youyou Tu won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for their discoveries of treatments against parasites, the jury said, reports AFP from Stockholm.
Campbell and Omura shared one half of the prize for “their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”, while Tu won the other half “for discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria,” the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said.
Campbell and Omura discovered a new drug, Avermectin, “the derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, as well as showing efficacy against an expanding number of other parasitic diseases,” a statement from the Nobel Assembly said.
Tu, 84, meanwhile discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from malaria, it added. She based her discovery on Chinese traditional herbal medicine.
“These two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually. The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable,” the committee said.
This year’s Nobel laureates will share the eight million Swedish kronor (around $950,000 or 855,000 euros) prize sum.
Last year, the prize went to British-American researcher John O’Keefe and a Norwegian couple, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser, for discovering the brain’s “inner GPS” that helps people navigate.

 

Trio win Nobel Prize in medicine for parasite therapies

Irish-born William Campbell, Satoshi Omura of Japan and Chinas Youyou Tu won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for their discoveries of treatments against parasites, the jury said, reports AFP from Stockholm. Campbell and Omura shared one half of the prize for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites, while Tu won the other half for discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria, the Nobel Assembly at Swedens Karolinska Institute said. Campbell and Omura discovered a new drug, Avermectin, the derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, as well as showing efficacy against an expanding number of other parasitic diseases, a statement from the Nobel Assembly said. Tu, 84, meanwhile discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from malaria, it added. She based her discovery on Chinese traditional herbal medicine. These two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually. The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable, the committee said. This years Nobel laureates will share the eight million Swedish kronor (around $950,000 or 855,000 euros) prize sum. Last year, the prize went to British-American researcher John OKeefe and a Norwegian couple, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser, for discovering the brains inner GPS that helps people navigate.