A Nobel for Cells

Starting in 1910, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded once a year to an individual or group of individuals who “have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine.” On October 7th, William Kaelin Jr, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Peter Ratcliffe, the director of clinical research at the Francis Crick Institute and Target Discovery Institute at Oxford, and Gregg Semenza, a Johns Hopkins researcher received this award along with a cash prize of $907,000 US dollars for their discoveries in how cells react to oxygen availability at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Their research will improve treatment used by those with anemia, cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases.

The findings revealed how cells can sense and adapt to changing oxygen availability. The trio also discovered how “molecular machinery regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.” For instance, one of their discoveries revealed that they could use enzymes called prolyl hydroxylases to destroy HIF-1α proteins. They have also found that “When oxygen levels are too low, cells know that they have to take emergency measures to adapt their metabolism or adapt their behavior.” For example, if the oxygen supply is too low, the cells will react by generating more red blood cells or blood vessels. 

This could change the way diseases such as anemia could be treated, as well as other various illnesses. This group is one of many who are working toward and paving the way to a cure for life-threatening diseases.