The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian

The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded this Monday to David Jules and Patapoutien Ardem “For his discoveries of temperature and touch receptors” at the opening of the famous awards season 2021, reported the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Their findings “explained how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in our nervous system. The ion channels identified are important for many physiological processes and diseases, ”said the organizers.

They also noted that the research of the US Laureates is focused on elucidating their roles in a variety of physiological processes and that their findings are being used to develop treatments for a number of conditions, including chronic pain.

The winners they won over the favorites, the Hungarian Katalin Karico and the American Drew Weissman, pioneers of RNA vaccines and professors from the University of Pennsylvania.

In the late 1990s, David Julius of the University of California at San Francisco (USA) saw the opportunity to make great strides in analyze how the chemical compound capsaicin causes the burning sensation we experience when we come into contact with the spiciness of chili peppers. The gene that detects capsaicin had been found!

When Julius studied the protein’s ability to react to heat, he realized he had discovered a heat-sensitive receptor that activates at temperatures perceived to be painful.

As the mechanisms of temperature sensation developed, it was still not clear how mechanical stimuli could be converted into our senses of touch and pressure. Ardem Patapoutian, who works at Scripps Research in La Jolla (California, USA), wanted to identify the elusive receptors activated by mechanical stimuli.

Patapoutian and colleagues first identified a cell line that emitted a measurable electrical signal when individual cells were punctured with a micropipette. The team has identify a single gene whose silencing made cells insensitive to micropipette punctures. A new completely unknown mechanosensitive ion channel had been discovered and named Piezo1.

“The revolutionary discoveries of the TRPV1 (capsaicin receptor), TRPM8 (cold-activated receptor) and Piezo (mechanosensitive ion channel) channels have helped to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us», Explained the press release.

“Doubts”

“It would be a mistake of the Nobel committee not to award this year’s prize to the messenger RNA vaccine, even if it is a bit risky,” said Ulrika Björkstén, head of science at Swedish public radio. He said his work could be awarded Wednesday in chemistry, if it is not in medicine.

Many believed the two scientists, who hold leadership positions at the German BioNTech lab, might have to wait their turn.

The Nobel Committee is known for its tendency to let years or decades pass, out of scientific prudence, before awarding the prize, and often prefers those who have not made a fortune with its discovery.

In theory, the Nobel will seek to reward the actions of the past year, but this slogan has not been respected since 1901. “They will certainly be considered in the years to come, but I have doubts about this year”, a speculated David Pendlebury of the Clarivate organization. , which updates a list of potential winners each year.

Last year, in the midst of a pandemic, the 2020 prize was awarded to the three virologists who discovered the virus responsible for hepatitis C.

The Nobel season continues Tuesday in Stockholm with physics and Wednesday with chemistry, before the two most anticipated, literature Thursday and peace Friday, the latter announced in Oslo..

The price of economy It will be unveiled on Monday of next week.

Although the process of selecting and announcing the laureates follows the usual pattern, the same will not be the case for their presentation: the Nobel Foundation announced a few weeks ago that the ceremony on December 10 will be reduced in size and that the prizes will be awarded to be delivered to the countries of origin or residence of the distinguished.

It remains to be seen whether the Norwegian Nobel Committee will do the same with the Peace Prize, which is awarded and awarded in Oslo at the express request of the creator of the Centenary Prizes, Swedish tycoon Alfred Nobel, since Norway was part of the Kingdom of Sweden.

All Nobel laureates follow a similar election process: scientists, academics or university professors nominate their candidates and the different Nobel committees set up multiple screens to choose the laureate (s), up to three per prize.

And they have the same financial endowment, this year of 10 million Swedish crowns (980,000 euros, 1.1 million dollars).

NO CLEAR FAVORITES IN LITERATURE AND THE PRICE OF PEACE

The two Nobel Prize winners who generate the most expectations each year, Literature and Peace, are presented this time without clear favorites in the previous pools.

Thus, for the Literature class appear classics of speculations of recent years such as the Japanese Haruki Murakami, the Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiongo and the Guadeloupean Maryse Condé.

Among those who succeed the American poet Louis Glück among the laureates, there are also other lyrical artists such as the Canadian Anne Carson, her compatriot the narrator Margaret Atwood and the Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya.

The prize pools for the Nobel Peace Prize, which last year awarded the United Nations World Food Program, are dominated by candidates linked to the defense of journalists, the environment and health issues.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg are just some of the names ringing for the award. prestigious. .

ONLY 6% OF WINNERS ARE WOMEN

Since the failure of the first edition of the prizes in 1901, the Nobels – which have been deserted 49 times – have distinguished 930 people and 25 organizations, some on multiple occasions, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the American biochemist Linus Pauling or the scientist Marie Curie.

Curie won Physics in 1903, shared with her husband Pierre and Henri Becquerel, and Chemistry alone in 1911, a rarity in the list of Nobel Prize winners, in which women nevertheless play a marginal role.

Only 6% of the total laureates are women (57 in total), and almost half of them (28) have been honored in the past two decades.

In the last edition, there were four laureates: the American Andrea Ghez (Physics), her compatriot Jennifer A. Doudna and the French Emmanuelle Charpentier (Chemistry), and the American Louise Glück (Literature).

(With information from AFP and EFE)