ABSTRACT
In fall 1972, Paul Berg's laboratory published articles in PNAS describing two methods for constructing recombinant DNAs in vitro. He received half of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this landmark accomplishment. Here, we describe how this discovery came about, revolutionizing both biological research and the pharmaceutical industry.
Subject(s)
DNA, Recombinant , Genetic Techniques , Nobel Prize , DNA, Recombinant/genetics , Drug IndustryABSTRACT
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for "explaining the molecular basis for sensing heat, cold and mechanical force." Their findings capped off a scientific quest to identify the mechanisms within the somatosensory system mediating the detection of internal and external environments.
Subject(s)
Ion Channels/metabolism , Sensation/physiology , Animals , Biomechanical Phenomena , Capsaicin/pharmacology , Humans , Nobel Prize , Touch/physiologyABSTRACT
To celebrate the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability, we've asked four researchers in the oxygen-sensing field what they see on the horizon after this momentous milestone.
Subject(s)
Biomedical Research/trends , Hypoxia/metabolism , Oxygen/metabolism , Awards and Prizes , Biomedical Research/history , History, 20th Century , Humans , Nobel Prize , Research PersonnelABSTRACT
In 1991, Buck and Axel published a landmark study in Cell for work that was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize. The identification of the olfactory receptors as the largest family of GPCRs catapulted olfaction into mainstream neurobiology. This BenchMark revisits Buck's experimental innovation and its surprising success at the time.
Subject(s)
Receptors, Odorant/metabolism , Smell/physiology , Awards and Prizes , History, 20th Century , Humans , Neurobiology , Nobel Prize , Olfactory Receptor Neurons , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/metabolismABSTRACT
This year's Lasker Basic Medical Research Award honors Max Cooper and Jacques Miller for discoveries that revealed the organizing principles of adaptive immunity. Their collective contributions have had broad clinical impact in the treatment of immune disease.
Subject(s)
Adaptive Immunity/immunology , Cell Communication/immunology , Plasma Cells/immunology , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Animals , Antibody Formation/immunology , Antigen Presentation , Bone Marrow/immunology , Chickens , Humans , Hybridomas/immunology , Immunoglobulin Class Switching/immunology , Lymph Nodes/immunology , Mice , Nobel Prize , Self Tolerance/immunology , Thymus Gland/immunologyABSTRACT
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded jointly to Arthur Ashkin for the discovery and development of optical tweezers and their applications to biological systems and to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for the invention of laser chirped pulse amplification. Here we focus on Arthur Ashkin and how his revolutionary work opened a window into the world of molecular mechanics and spurred the rise of single-molecule biophysics.
Subject(s)
Biophysics , Nanotechnology , Nobel Prize , Optical Tweezers , HumansABSTRACT
This year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three pioneering scientists who applied laboratory evolution for protein engineering: Frances Arnold, George P. Smith, and Sir Gregory P. Winter. This approach has had major impact in various applications and inspires the search for the general principles of design through evolution.
Subject(s)
Directed Molecular Evolution , Nobel Prize , Protein Engineering , Directed Molecular Evolution/methods , Directed Molecular Evolution/trends , Humans , Protein Engineering/methods , Protein Engineering/trendsABSTRACT
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology has been awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. These insights have given rise to a class of medicines that have now entered routine use in the treatment of advanced cancers and have provided a foundation for additional exploration and discovery of pathways critical to modulating the immune response to cancer.
Subject(s)
Immunotherapy , Neoplasms , Nobel Prize , Humans , Immunotherapy/methods , Neoplasms/immunology , Neoplasms/pathology , Neoplasms/therapyABSTRACT
Living in rural Maine, Jeffrey Hall's own rhythm has been thrown upside down after he received a very unexpected call one morning on the award of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Together with Michael Rosbash and Mike Young, they were recognized "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm." Cell editor Marta Koch caught up with Jeff on a calm Sunday morning, when electricity at his house had just returned after recent storms. Annotated excerpts from their chat about behavior, misbehavior, and the challenges and joys of working with fruit flies, are presented below.
Subject(s)
Circadian Rhythm , Nobel Prize , Animals , Drosophila , History, 20th Century , History, 21st CenturyABSTRACT
September 2, 2017, marks the 25th year after the passing of Dr. Barbara McClintock, geneticist and recipient of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of transposable elements in maize. This memoir focuses on the last years of her life-after the prize-and includes personal recollections of how she mentored young scientists and inspired the age of genetics, epigenetics, and genomics.
Subject(s)
DNA Transposable Elements , Genetics/education , Genes, Plant , Genetics/history , History, 20th Century , Nobel Prize , Physiology/history , Zea mays/geneticsABSTRACT
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology has been awarded to Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young for elucidating molecular mechanisms of the circadian clock. From studies beginning in fruit flies, we now know that circadian regulation pervades most biological processes and has strong ties to human health and disease.
Subject(s)
Circadian Clocks , Nobel Prize , Physiology/history , Animals , CLOCK Proteins/metabolism , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , HumansABSTRACT
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson for "developing cryoelectron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution." Achieving this goal, which required innovation, persistence, and uncommon physical insight, has broadened horizons for structural studies in molecular and cell biology.
Subject(s)
Chemistry/history , Cryoelectron Microscopy , Nobel Prize , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Proteins/chemistryABSTRACT
This year is the centenary of the death of Elie Metchnikoff, the father of innate immunity. His work on phagocytosis has continued to flourish, particularly over the past half century.
Subject(s)
Immunity, Innate , Phagocytosis , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Nobel PrizeABSTRACT
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi for the discovery of the molecular principles governing autophagy, an intracellular degradation pathway routed via lysosomes or vacuoles. It is a story of a simple yet insightful yeast genetic screen that revealed the inner circuitry of one of the most powerful quality-control pathways in cells.
Subject(s)
Autophagy , Nobel Prize , Physiology/history , Animals , Autophagosomes/physiology , History, 20th Century , Humans , Lysosomes/physiology , Yeasts/cytology , Yeasts/physiologyABSTRACT
This year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar, and Paul Modrich for their seminal studies of the mechanisms by which cells from bacteria to man repair DNA damage that is generated by normal cellular metabolism and stress from the environment. These studies beautifully illustrate the remarkable power of DNA repair to influence life from evolution through disease susceptibility.
Subject(s)
Chemistry/history , DNA Repair , Nobel Prize , Bacteria/metabolism , DNA/chemistry , DNA Damage , Eukaryota/metabolism , History, 21st Century , HumansABSTRACT
The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura, and Youyou Tu for the discovery of avermectins and artemisinin, respectively, therapies that revolutionized the treatment of devastating parasite diseases. With the recent technological advances, a New Golden Age of natural products drug discovery is dawning.
Subject(s)
Drug Discovery , Nobel Prize , Parasitic Diseases/drug therapy , Artemisinins/chemistry , Artemisinins/therapeutic use , History of Medicine , History, 21st Century , Ivermectin/analogs & derivatives , Ivermectin/chemistry , Ivermectin/therapeutic use , Physiology/historyABSTRACT
Deep-sea inspirations to burning scientific passions, along with training by a Nobel Prize recipient, we talk to first author Vaidotas Stankevicius and group leaders, Giedrius Vilkaitis and Saulius Klimasauskas, about their paper, "Selective chemical tracking of Dnmt1 catalytic activity in live cells," and the developing research landscape in Lithuania.
Subject(s)
Nobel PrizeABSTRACT
In 1983, Barbara McClintock was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of transposable elements. This discovery was rooted in meticulous work on maize mutants that she had carried out 40 years earlier. Over this time frame, our perception of transposable elements has undergone important paradigm shifts, with profound implications for our understanding of genome function and evolution. In commemoration of this milestone, I revisit the legacy of this iconic scientist through the kaleidoscopic history of genetics and reflect on her achievements and the hurdles she faced in her career.
Subject(s)
DNA Transposable Elements , Nobel Prize , DNA Transposable Elements/genetics , Zea mays/geneticsABSTRACT
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser, recognizes the first deep-brain insights into a cognitive function. Their insights established a new view for how the brain represents spatial location.
Subject(s)
Hippocampus/physiology , Neurosciences/history , Nobel Prize , Physiology/history , Animals , Canada , England , History, 20th Century , Humans , Norway , Spatial NavigationABSTRACT
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded jointly to William E. Moerner, Stefan W. Hell, and Eric Betzig "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy." I discuss the contributions made by this year's awardees and how advances in understanding the behavior of fluorophores and research in light microscopy converged to allow the improved visualization of biological structures.