2009 Nobel for Medicine

[hummingwolf]

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak are this year's winners for the Nobel Prize in medicine for their research into telomeres (the tips of chromosomes) and telomerase (the enzyme that builds telomeres); discoveries which, in the words of the prize committee, "have added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies."

This is the first time two women have won the prize in medicine in the same year. But what I'm wondering is, how many times has a winner of a Nobel prize quoted Monty Python?

Comments

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

I was quite amused by that.

There's a gene found in fruit flies which, when mutated, doubles the average lifespan of each fly. They call it INDY, short for "I'm Not Dead Yet!"

[szeretni.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the congratulation! :D
*hugs*

[szeretni.livejournal.com]

BTW do you have Facebook or MSN or something?

[hasufin.livejournal.com]

It's awesome that they're getting well-deserved recognition - understanding telomeres has the potential for so much, from cracking cancer and genetic diseases to anti-senescence drugs.

It does kind of sadden me, in way, though... I have never known a time when we did not have a basic comprehension of telomeres, and yet it's only just now that this honor is offered. I know that especially in the sciences it's important to have some delay to see if research truly meets its potential, but surely we can do better than three decades?

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Nope, I'm pretty much just here. Well, here and at DreamWidth and InsaneJournal, but mostly here on LJ.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

That's cute. I remember reading an article once about fun names used in biology, but I have sadly forgotten all the ones I learned.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I wonder what the average time from first discovery to Nobel is?

[hasufin.livejournal.com]

Dunno about the prize for medicine, but the Peace Prize seems to have one hell of a fast turnaround.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Why, whatever do you mean? Barack H. Obama has put in decades of hard work not being George W. Bush!!

[hasufin.livejournal.com]

So have I! And I need the million bucks!

Yeah, that bothers me a bit. Obama's cool and all, but I kind of figured that someone would have to actually do something prior to being given the prize (upon a little bit of research, that's not always the case - they often give it as an encouragement to keep up a promising effort).

But, at any rate, obviously at least one of the prize committees is perfectly capable of moving fast.