Image Credits: nobelprize.org

Nobel Prize is perhaps the most prestigious award in the world and each year a set of prizes are awarded to distinguished individuals and organisations for their outstanding achievements in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economics and the promotion of peace.

Each of the winners (also called a laureate) is awarded a gold medal, a diploma and a variable sum of money which is decided annually by the Nobel Foundation (about US $1 million).

Here’s a brief overview of the Nobel prize winners of this year and their remarkable work in the field of Medicine.

Nobel Winners In Medicine

The Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute. Three scientists were jointly awarded this year’s prize - William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for their discovery on how cells in our bodies sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

Oxygen, as we all know, is the lifeblood of living organisms. It diffuses in our blood when we breathe and is then carried all over the body. Cells use this oxygen to break down the food we eat to release energy from it.

But oxygen levels can keep varying in the body. There can sometimes be too much of it and sometimes too little, depending on the environment around us, our activity, air quality and so on. Both of these situations can be dangerous for the body.

The three scientists discovered that the cells in our bodies have the ability to sense and adapt according to the oxygen levels and they, therefore, set out to study exactly how our cells regulate their responses to these varying levels. In basic words, they have discovered the molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.

Even though this might sound something basic, it has huge repercussions. Their discovery will have implications for treating several diseases. Some of which are induced by low oxygen levels in the body while some are induced by higher levels. Anaemia, heart problems, lung disorders are all conditions in which the oxygen is in short supply, while cancer seeks out and is fed by higher oxygen levels.