The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
jointly to
William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza (in Pic Right to Left)
“for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”
SUMMARY
Animals need oxygen for the conversion of food into useful energy. The fundamental importance of oxygen has been understood for centuries, but how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen has long been unknown.
William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza discovered how cells can sense and adapt to changing oxygen availability. They identified molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.
The seminal discoveries by this year’s Nobel Laureates revealed the mechanism for one of life’s most essential adaptive processes. They established the basis for our understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological function. Their discoveries have also paved the way for promising new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases.
Short Intro Nobel Laureates
William G. Kaelin Jr
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
Born: 1957, New York, NY, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability."
Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
Born: 1954, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability."
Gregg L. Semenza
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019
Born: 1956, New York, NY, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability."
