Three Awarded Nobel for Medicine for Identifying Hepatitis C Virus
2020-10-06
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1Three scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for identifying the virus responsible for Hepatitis C.
2The Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
3The Nobel Committee named two Americans, Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice, and British-born scientist Michael Houghton as joint winners of the prize.
4The committee noted that the three had identified a major source of blood-borne hepatitis.
5It said the source could not be explained by the Hepatitis A and B viruses, which were discovered earlier.
6Their work - dating back to the 1970s and 1980s - made possible blood tests and new medicines that saved millions of lives, the committee said.
7The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are over 70 million cases of Hepatitis C worldwide and 400,000 deaths from it each year.
8Hepatitis is a term for inflammation, or an infection, of the liver.
9There are five main Hepatitis viruses, known as types A, B, C, D and E.
10The Hepatitis A virus is usually spread through human waste in water or food.
11But the virus is deadly in less than one percent of cases.
12Many people infected with Hepatitis A never get sick. And those who do usually recover within two months.
13Hepatitis B and C are spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of another person.
14People also can get infected with Hepatitis B if they share personal-care products that might have blood on them.
15Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver, a condition that causes scar tissue to slowly replace healthy cells.
16In time, the patient may require a liver transplant operation.
17The Nobel prize for medicine has special importance this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
18The health crisis has shown how important medical research is for societies and economies around the world.
19It has also demonstrated the serious effects a single virus can have on the whole planet.
20"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," the committee said.
21The discovery also led to the speedy development of antiviral drugs directed at Hepatitis C, it added.
22"For the first time in history, the disease can now be cured, raising hopes of eradicating the Hepatitis C virus from the world population."
23Harvey Alter carried out his prize-winning studies at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he remains active today.
24Rice worked on hepatitis at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri.
25He now works at Rockefeller University in New York.
26Houghton, born in Britain, studied at the Chiron Corporation in California before moving to the University of Alberta in Canada.
27Alter spoke about the early morning telephone call he got from the Nobel committee in Stockholm.
28The American said he ignored the first two times the phone rang before "angrily" answering it the third time.
29He added that his anger went away "in about a second."
30"It's so kind of other-worldly," he said of the call.
31"It's something you don't think will ever happen and sometimes you don't think you deserve it to happen and it happens," he added.
32"In this crazy COVID year where everything is turned upside down, this is another nice upside down for me," Alter added.
33John McLauchlan is a professor of viral hepatitis at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
34He called the prize winners "pioneers," saying their discovery had made it possible to fight the disease worldwide.
35In 2016, the WHO approved a plan of action to beat hepatitis by 2030.
36"That would mark the first time we might possibly control a viral infection using only drugs," McLauchlan said.
37Nobel Committee member Patrik Ernfors noted similarities between the medicine prize and efforts by scientists around the world to find a vaccine to fight COVID-19.
38"The first thing you need to do is to identify the causing virus," he told reporters.
39"And once that has been done, that is, in itself, the starting point for development of drugs to treat the disease and also develop vaccines," Ernfors said.
40The 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine is the 111th to be awarded for medicine since 1901.
41The winners will each receive an equal share of the $1.1 million in prize money.
42I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Three scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for identifying the virus responsible for Hepatitis C. 2The Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. 3The Nobel Committee named two Americans, Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice, and British-born scientist Michael Houghton as joint winners of the prize. 4The committee noted that the three had identified a major source of blood-borne hepatitis. It said the source could not be explained by the Hepatitis A and B viruses, which were discovered earlier. 5Their work - dating back to the 1970s and 1980s - made possible blood tests and new medicines that saved millions of lives, the committee said. 6The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are over 70 million cases of Hepatitis C worldwide and 400,000 deaths from it each year. 7Hepatitis is a term for inflammation, or an infection, of the liver. There are five main Hepatitis viruses, known as types A, B, C, D and E. 8The Hepatitis A virus is usually spread through human waste in water or food. But the virus is deadly in less than one percent of cases. Many people infected with Hepatitis A never get sick. And those who do usually recover within two months. 9Hepatitis B and C are spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of another person. People also can get infected with Hepatitis B if they share personal-care products that might have blood on them. 10Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver, a condition that causes scar tissue to slowly replace healthy cells. In time, the patient may require a liver transplant operation. 11The Nobel prize for medicine has special importance this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The health crisis has shown how important medical research is for societies and economies around the world. It has also demonstrated the serious effects a single virus can have on the whole planet. 12"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," the committee said. 13The discovery also led to the speedy development of antiviral drugs directed at Hepatitis C, it added. "For the first time in history, the disease can now be cured, raising hopes of eradicating the Hepatitis C virus from the world population." 14Harvey Alter carried out his prize-winning studies at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he remains active today. Rice worked on hepatitis at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. He now works at Rockefeller University in New York. Houghton, born in Britain, studied at the Chiron Corporation in California before moving to the University of Alberta in Canada. 15Alter spoke about the early morning telephone call he got from the Nobel committee in Stockholm. The American said he ignored the first two times the phone rang before "angrily" answering it the third time. He added that his anger went away "in about a second." 16"It's so kind of other-worldly," he said of the call. "It's something you don't think will ever happen and sometimes you don't think you deserve it to happen and it happens," he added. 17"In this crazy COVID year where everything is turned upside down, this is another nice upside down for me," Alter added. 18John McLauchlan is a professor of viral hepatitis at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He called the prize winners "pioneers," saying their discovery had made it possible to fight the disease worldwide. In 2016, the WHO approved a plan of action to beat hepatitis by 2030. 19"That would mark the first time we might possibly control a viral infection using only drugs," McLauchlan said. 20Nobel Committee member Patrik Ernfors noted similarities between the medicine prize and efforts by scientists around the world to find a vaccine to fight COVID-19. 21"The first thing you need to do is to identify the causing virus," he told reporters. "And once that has been done, that is, in itself, the starting point for development of drugs to treat the disease and also develop vaccines," Ernfors said. 22The 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine is the 111th to be awarded for medicine since 1901. The winners will each receive an equal share of the $1.1 million in prize money. 23I'm Bryan Lynn. 24The Associated Press, Reuters and VOA News reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 25We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 26________________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28source - n. where something comes from 29borne - v. carried or transported by the thing specified 30cirrhosis - n. a serious disease of the liver 31scar - n. a mark left on the part of the body after an injury 32eliminate - v. remove 33transfusion - n. the process of adding an amount of blood to the body of a person or animal, or the amount of blood itself 34eradicate - v. get rid of something completely 35deserve - v. to have earned or been given something because of the way you behaved or the qualities you have 36pioneer - n. a person who is one of the first people to do something