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[Oersted]

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Irish-born Campbell and Japan's Omura shared half of the prize for their discovery of a new drug, Avermectin, "the derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis," according to the Nobel Foundation's statement. Youyou Tu of China, who claims half of the 8 million Swedish crown ($960,000, 855,000-euro) purse, "discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from malaria."

About Youyou Tu and her work

Youyou Tu, the chief professor at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, began her work with traditional herbal remedies in the 1960s.

Focussing on plant Artemisia annua, Tu extracted the active Artemisin ingredient found in plants, then purified it. Tests conducted by the now 84-year-old showed her trials had “unprecedented potency” in treating Malaria, which infects close to 200 million people every year. The infection leaves more than 450,000 people dead globally annually, with most of the victims being children.

About William C. Campbell & Satoshi Omura and their work

Campbell, a current research fellow emeritus at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey,was born in Ireland in 1930. The 84-year-old's co-recipient, Satoshi Omura, a Japanese microbiologist, provided Campbell with sample strains of Streptomyces bacteria collected from soil in Japan which Omura analyzed for harmful microorganism activity.

Taking those samples, Campbell isolated the Avermectin compound and was able to showthe cultures were exceptionally efficient in combating parasites in domesticand farm animals, the institute said in a statement.

Avermectin “radically lowers” incidences of river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, as wellas other parasitic diseases.

A thread-like worm that lives on the lymph system and causes chronic swelling,including elephantiasis, lymphatic filariasis, affects more than 100 million people, mostly in poorer regions of the world.

More at the source

http://www.dw.com/en/william-c-camp...ou-tu-win-nobel-prize-for-medicine/a-18761220

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[borborygmus]

Wormwood is widely known these days for being anti-parasitic, so I take it this award is for discoveries made in the 70s? I searched around a bit and didn't find any timeframe mentioned for the work that they did (I mean the specific thing that they're being awarded the prize for).

Is this award being given for their general contributions, rather than a specific instance of work? The articles strangely don't mention dates for any of the specific things they did. I don't know how these prizes are awarded.

 

[Oersted]

Wormwood is widely known these days for being anti-parasitic, so I take it this award is for discoveries made in the 70s? I searched around a bit and didn't find any timeframe mentioned for the work that they did (I mean the specific thing that they're being awarded the prize for).

Is this award being given for their general contributions, rather than a specific instance of work? The articles strangely don't mention dates for any of the specific things they did. I don't know how these prizes are awarded.

: "for thier discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites"

Via Nobel Prize Committee

The Nobel committee honored Omura and Campbell for their work on the drug avermectin, derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filiarisis, commonly known as elephantiasis. Tu was honored for her work on a drug to treat malaria.

Avermectin is used to control parasitic worms, which affect one-third of the world’s population and are especially prevalent in South Asia, Africa and Central and South America, the Nobel body said.

It added that Omura’s work was a breakthrough after decades of limited progress in developing durable therapies for parasitic diseases.

Equipped with “extraordinary skills,” Omura developed new techniques for the large-scale culture of certain bacteria and isolated strains that he found to be effective against the worms, the statement said.

Campbell then acquired Omura’s cultures and further explored their efficacy.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ura-shares-nobel-prize-medicine/#.VhJZFaYrJE4

 

[akira28]

Wormwood is widely known these days for being anti-parasitic, so I take it this award is for discoveries made in the 70s? I searched around a bit and didn't find any timeframe mentioned for the work that they did (I mean the specific thing that they're being awarded the prize for).

Is this award being given for their general contributions, rather than a specific instance of work? The articles strangely don't mention dates for any of the specific things they did. I don't know how these prizes are awarded.

hey cool. yeah looks like Omura at least has been on this since the late 70s. Congrats to all 3.