THE 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.
Two Americans, Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice, and a Brit, Michael Houghton, were jointly awarded the prize for making “seminal discoveries that led to the identification of a novel virus”, according to the prize committee.
The discovery of Hepatitis C virus made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives by tackling a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world.
The committee said the “methodical studies of transfusion-associated hepatitis by Harvey J. Alter demonstrated that an unknown virus was a common cause of chronic hepatitis”.
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Michael Houghton “used an untested strategy to isolate the genome of the new virus that was named Hepatitis C virus”.
Finally, Charles M. Rice “provided the final evidence showing that Hepatitis C virus alone could cause hepatitis”.
Thanks to their discovery, highly sensitive blood tests for the virus are now available and these have essentially eliminated post-transfusion hepatitis in many parts of the world, greatly improving global health.
Their discovery also allowed the rapid development of antiviral drugs directed at Hepatitis C and led to a cure for the disease.
The cure has raised hopes of eradicating Hepatitis C virus from the world population.
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