Photo: NOBEL PRIZE / copyright
The Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden announced this Monday that scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian are the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2021.
According to Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Prize Committee and who made the announcement, both researchers were awarded “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.”
“The revolutionary discoveries… of this year’s Nobel prizes have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world ”Added the jury that awarded the award.
David Julius is American and has 65 years. He is currently a professor at the University of California at San Francisco.
Ardem Patapoutian , from 44 years old, is an American biologist of Lebanese origin who is part of The Scripps Research, a non-profit research center specialized in biomedical sciences and that it is located in the state of California, USA
The award, as well as those corresponding to Physics, Chemistry and Literature to be announced this week, will be presented at the December 8 ceremony in Stockholm.
Work
According to the explanation n of the members of the Nobel Assembly at the Karonslika Institute in Sweden, Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.
And Julius used capsaicin, a spicy compound found in bell peppers or chili peppers that produces a burning or stinging sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that respond to heat.
Just in! New medicine laureate Ardem Patapoutian and his son Luca, watching the # NobelPrize press conference shortly after finding out the happy news.
Stay tuned for our interview with Patapoutian coming up soon !
Photographer : Nancy Hong pic.twitter.com/44 OCpRSTki
– The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize)
October 4, 2021
The results that both scientists achieved “ have allowed us to understand how heat or cold can initiate the nervous impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us “, notes the Karolinska Institute.
Their findings can also be used to advance the treatment of many conditions such as chronic pain.
More information soon.
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