The 2017 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young.
It was for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
The announcement was made in Stockholm today and is the first of the prizes to be made known by the Nobel Prize Committee.
Circadian in circadian rhythm, originates from the Latin words circa meaning “around” and dies meaning “day”.
The scientists were able to establish how man’s biological clock helps to regulate sleep patterns, feeding behaviour, hormone release and blood pressure.
Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year’s Nobel Laureates isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 107 times to 211 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2016.
Some of the past winners are:
2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi: “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.”
2015: William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites.”
Youyou Tu: “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.”
2014: John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.”
2013: James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof “for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells”
2012” Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.”
2011: Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann, “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity”
Ralph M. Steinman: “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity,” and
2010: Robert G. Edwards “for the development of in vitro fertilization.”
