Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine 2020.

 -Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine 2020.

• Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology, 2020 for the discovery of the Hepatitis C Virus.

• The discovery helped in finding a cure for the disease, and effective anti-viral drugs are now available.

• Tests have also been developed to identify blood containing this virus, so that infected blood is not given to any patient.

• The Nobel award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over USD 1,118,000) and was created by Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

HEPATITIS 

• Hepatitis refers to an inflammatory condition of the liver.

• It’s commonly caused by a viral infection, but there are other possible causes of hepatitis like autoimmune responses, medications, drugs, toxins, and alcohol.

• There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D, and E.

• World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on 28th July to enhance awareness of viral hepatitis.

HEPATITIS C 

• The Hepatitis C virus was discovered in 1982 by screening millions of DNA samples.

• Hepatitis C is caused by the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).

• It is transmitted through direct contact with infected body fluids, typically through injection drug use and sexual contact.

• A vaccine for the disease has still not been developed but it can be treated with the help of anti-viral drugs.

NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE

• The Nobel in Medicine/physiology is Presented by Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute.

• The first one was awarded in 1901 to the German physiologist Emil von Behring, for his work on serum therapy and the development of a vaccine against diphtheria. 

INDIANS IN MEDICINE

• Har Gobind Khorana shared his 1968 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with Robert W Holley and Marshall W Nirenberg. 

• The trio was honoured “for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis”.


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