Cancer research or drugs that treat heart disease could win a Nobel Prize on Monday as a week of prize announcements begins, bringing a ray of optimism to a crisis-stricken world.
Awarded since 1901, the Nobel Prizes honor those who, in the words of the prize’s creator and scientist Alfred Nobel, have “conferred the greatest benefit to mankind,” highlighting encouraging developments at a time when the world is watching devastating wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and climate on the verge of collapse.
The Nobel Prize in Medicine was released for the first time, announced Monday around 11:30 a.m. in Stockholm.
Among those considered potential laureates is Kevan Shokat, an American biologist who discovered how to block the KRAS cancer gene behind a third of cancers, including hard-to-treat tumors of the lung, colon and pancreas.
“These are now being tested for new treatments thanks to his discovery,” said Annika Ostman, science reporter at Swedish public radio SR.
Research into how to treat cardiovascular disease could also get the nod, with the work of geneticists Jonathan Cohen and Helen Hobbs.
They identified genes that regulate the metabolism of key lipids such as cholesterol, which led to a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, said David Pendlebury, head of the Clarivate analysis group that identifies Nobel-worthy research. AFP.
Hobbs won the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2016, sharing the honor with Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize.
Pendlebury also pointed to a trio of neuroscientists who have researched the basal ganglia, an area in the brain important for motivation and reward, and how it regulates our behavior.
The three are American neuroscientist Ann Graybiel, Okihide Hikosaka from Japan and German-born Wolfram Schultz.
Other potential winners are Davor Solter and Azim Surani for their study of epigenetics, which looks at how cells control gene activities without changing DNA.
Last year, the medicine prize was awarded to researchers Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their work on messenger RNA technology that paved the way for breakthrough vaccines for COVID-19.
Who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?
The climax of the week comes on Friday when the winner of the Peace Prize is announced, but experts say predictions are harder than ever this year due to the growing number of crises around the world.
The UN agency for Palestine refugees UNRWA, the International Court of Justice and Afghan women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj have been mentioned as possible.
Given the existential risks to humanity posed by weapons systems that can operate autonomously without human control, several Nobel observers have also mentioned the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots as a possible laureate.
The economics prize concludes the 2024 Nobel season on October 14.
It could go into research on the economics of child development, the integration of nature into the economy, or the effects of corruption on economic development.
a href=”https://www.geo.tv/latest/567730-cancer-cardiovascular-drugs-lead-predictions-for-nobel-as-prize-week-opens”>Source link
