Question: This year’s noble prize in medicine and physiology has been declared in October, in which of the following area of medicine this year prize has been given?
(a) Molecular mechanism controlling circadian rhythm
(b) How cells sense and adapt to oxygen
(c) Discovery of mechanism of autophagy
(d) Cancer therapy by inhibiting negative immune regulation
Answer:(b)
Related facts:
- The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr.(USA), Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe(UK) and Gregg L. Semenza(USA) in October, 2019.
- They are recognized for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
- The need for oxygen to sustain life has been understood since the onset of modern biology; but the molecular mechanisms underlying how cells adapt to variations in oxygen supply were unknown until this groundbreaking research.
- Animal cells undergo fundamental shifts in gene expression when there are changes in the oxygen levels around them.
- These changes in gene expression alter cell metabolism, tissue re-modeling, and even organism responses such as increases in heart rate and ventilation.
- They identified molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.
- This year’s Nobel Laureates revealed the mechanism for one of life’s most essential adaptive processes.
- They established the basis for our understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological function.
- Their discoveries have also paved the way for promising new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases.
Links:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/three-scientists-share-medicine-nobel-for-discovery-of-how-cells-sense-and-adapt-to-oxygen/article29615073.ece