Three scientists who studied how cells sense and adapt to oxygen levels have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — the first recipients of prestigious awards for 2019.
William G. Kaelin, Jr., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, of Oxford University and the Francis Crick Institute, and Gregg L. Semenza, of Johns Hopkins University were jointly awarded the prize.
“The seminal discoveries by this year’s Nobel laureates revealed the mechanism for one of life’s most essential adaptive processes,” the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said.
The committee said that the discoveries are of fundamental importance for physiology and could blaze the trail for new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases.
The prize of 9 million Swedish crowns ($913,000) will be shared equally by the three winners.
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