4 honored for genetic research and development of anesthesia



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NEW YORK – Four scientists have received prestigious medical awards for research in genetics and the development of a widely used anesthetic, dubbed "amnesia milk".

The $ 250,000 winners of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation were announced on Tuesday. The awards will be presented later this month in New York.

The Clinical Medicine Award was given to John B. Glen, who retired from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, for discovering and developing the most widely used drug in the world to induce anesthesia. Nicknamed "amnesia milk" for its white and oily appearance, propofol quickly causes sedation and amnesia when it is injected intravenously. In addition to operating rooms and emergency services, it is used in clinics for procedures such as colonoscopies.

The drug was approved in the 1980s by the United States and the United States. When the World Health Organization declared propofol as an "essential drug" in 2016, more than 190 million people had received it.

He made headlines after the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson in 2009 from a dose administered by his doctor, who was trying to help the singer to sleep. The doctor was found guilty of manslaughter.

The award for basic research went to C. David Allis of Rockefeller University in New York and Michael Grunstein of the University of California, Los Angeles. They "opened a new field" by revealing "a previously hidden layer of genetic control," the foundation said.

Starting in the 1980s, their work shed light on the influence of chemical activity on the chemical modification of proteins called histones.

The Award of Excellence in Medical Science was awarded to Joan Steitz of Yale University. She has been cited for her research on RNA, which cells use to turn instructions from genes into proteins and to perform other functions. The award also honors his mentorship of early career scientists and support for women in science.

Steitz's salary is paid for by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also supports the Associated Press Department of Health and Science.

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