October 4, 2016.
The Nobel Prize for Medicine has just been awarded to the Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi, who shed light on the mechanism of autophagy. But what is it exactly?
The prize rewards the discovery of the autophagy mechanism
It exists a mechanism that allows cells to recycle or break down unwanted elements in the cell. We call it autophagy. This mechanism was discovered by professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yoshinori Ohsumi, a 71-year-old man. And it is for this discovery that he has just won the Nobel Prize in medicine.
” I don’t like competition », Declared the researcher during a press conference, Monday, October 3, in Tokyo, after the announcement of his price. ” I have fun doing what others don’t rather than doing what everyone else wants to do “. ” It was my dream when I was a little boy but the Nobel had gone out of my mind since I was a researcher “, he added.
An important check to further research
Yoshinori Ohsumi’s work will allow scientists to better understand cell renewal, aging and the body’s response to hunger and infections, but also open up great prospects in the fight against cancer.
This award is accompanied bya check for eight million Swedish kronor, or approximately € 834,000, which will allow the researcher to deepen his work. ” Mutations in autophagy genes can cause genetic diseases. Intense research is currently being carried out to develop treatments that can target autophagy in different conditions. “, Said the jury of the Nobel Prize in medicine.
