Three American scientists win Nobel Prize in Medicine

The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three American scientists, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young, for discoveries related to the human organism's biological clock on Monday, October 2, 2017, the Nobel Foundation announced.

They were awarded for “their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm that helps human beings anticipate and adapt to the regular rhythm of the day”, the Foundation said.

The circadian rhythm helps to regulate sleep patterns, feeding behavior, hormone release, blood pressure, and body temperature.

– The scientists were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings. Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolutions – the press release adds.

Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day.

Last year's recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine was Yoshinori Ohsumi, for his discovery of mechanism for autophagy.

This year, each laureate will get SEK 9 million from the Nobel Fund, that is, close to a million euros. The amount is divided up in case there are several laureates in a single discipline, as is the case with this year's medicine award.

Nobel Prize in Medicine

Jeffrey C Hall

Michael Rosbash

Michael Young

biological clock

Nobel Foundation

circadian rhythm

biological rhythm

Yoshinori Ohsumi

Nobel Prize recipients