Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking exploration of a cellular process whereby cells degrade and recycle themselves.
Ohsumi, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Yokohama, Japan, performed pioneering experiments during the 90's that broadened the understanding of a process called autophagy. While autophagy was already known to the scientific world, its significance was not fully understood.
Thanks to Ohsumi and those that have followed in his footsteps, there is a greater understanding of how autophagy controls important physiological functions where cellular components need to be degraded and recycled, including how the process helps rapidly provide fuel for energy and building blocks for renewal of cellular components, making it crucial for the cell's response to starvation and other types of stress. After infection, autophagy can eliminate invading bacteria and viruses and can eliminate damaged cell components, which also has ramifications in counteracting the negative consequences of aging.
[Also: Zika researchers seek faster, easier detection test not requiring labratory]
"Disrupted autophagy has been linked to Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and other disorders that appear in the elderly. Mutations in autophagy genes can cause genetic disease. Disturbances in the autophagic machinery have also been linked to cancer. Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases," The Nobel Assembly said in a statement.
Ohsumi is the sole winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which brings with it a purse of roughly $930,000.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn