David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

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David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian

The 2021 NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. | Source: Twitter/The Nobel Prize

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

The seminal discoveries by this year’s NobelPrize laureates in physiology or medicine have explained how heat, cold, and touch can initiate signals in our nervous system. The identified ion channels are important for many physiological processes and disease conditions.

The laureate used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs. The groundbreaking discoveries of the TRPV1, TRPM8, and Piezo channels by this year’s NobelPrize laureates have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical forces can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.

The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (more than USD 1.14 million), courtesy of a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel who died in 1895.

The Nobel Prize awarding institutions have decided to announce their 2021 prize decisions. the distribution will begin on 04 October and conclude on 11 October.  On 5th October, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Sessionssalen will announce the Nobel prize in Physics for 2021.

Interesting  facts about Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine

112 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded between 1901 and 2021.

32 years was the age of the youngest medicine laureate ever, Frederick G. Banting, who was awarded the 1923 Medicine Prize for the discovery of insulin.

87 years was the age of the oldest medicine laureate ever, Peyton Rous when he was awarded the medicine prize in 1966 for his discovery of tumor-inducing viruses.

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