Updated By: LatestGKGS Desk
Nobel Prize 2020 given for Hepatitis C Virus Discovery
The Hepatitis C discovery opens ways for a new medicine that will save the life of millions suffering from deadly hepatitis disease.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice "for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus."
This year’s Nobel Prize is awarded to three scientists who have made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world.
Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice made seminal discoveries that led to the identification of a novel virus, the Hepatitis C virus.
Prior to their work, the discovery of Hepatitis A and B viruses had been critical steps forward, but the majority of blood-borne hepatitis cases remained unexplained.
The discovery of the Hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.
