This has been the week to meet the 2019 Nobel Prize winners , and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has already awarded the first prizes. We leave you a small summary that we will expand later.
Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2019
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine went to the Americans William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and the British Peter Ratcliffe.
His discovery is the sensor through which cells detect the amount of oxygen available to adapt their metabolism . With this discovery they understood the mechanism through which aerobic metabolism works (which is capable of extracting energy from oxygen).
Within this discovery, one of the award-winning aspects is the functioning of the EPO protein (erythropoietin, infamous for doping cases), which is responsible for stimulating the production of red blood cells and which is universal in all animals.
However, not only this has been crucial, but also the discovery of the HIF factor (hypoxia inducible factor), which appears when there is a shortage of oxygen in the environment.
Another important award-winning aspect has been the discovery that the VHL gene acts as a gene that prevents cancer, protecting against tumors as it helps preserve the necessary proteins when oxygen is lacking. Related to this discovery is that it is an essential part of the cellular oxygen sensor.
This discovery has been key to numerous aspects within medicine, such as knowing the functioning of the muscles during exercise, the correct functioning of the immune response, how new blood vessels develop and the development of the embryo.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two discoveries of great importance.
On the one hand, to the Swiss astrophysicists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz who discovered that the solar system is not the only system of a star surrounded by planets .
On the other hand, the award has also gone to cosmologist James Peebles for his contributions to understanding the evolution of the universe .
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019
This year’s 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry featured two great discoveries as favorites. The discovery of the CRISPR technique to edit genes with all its potential and the discovery of lithium batteries.
Finally, the award went to the discoverers of lithium batteries who have marked a before and after in the development of societies in developed countries. The winners were the American John B. Goodenough, the British Stanley Whittingham and the Japanese Akira Yoshino.
They are responsible for the existence of mobile devices, be they smartphones, telephones, laptops, … any device capable of being charged with electricity. A world without cables that has changed how we communicate, how we work and how we interact.
For the Swedish academy, “They have laid the foundations for a fossil-fuel-free and wirelessly connected society.”
