MOSCOW, October 3 - RIA Novosti. The discovery of the mechanism of autophagy by Nobel laureate Yoshinori Ohsumi may lead to new approaches to cancer treatment and infection control, Deputy General Director for scientific work Federal Research Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology named after Rogachev Alexey Maschan.
Nobel laureate Yoshinori Ohsumi admitted that since childhood he dreamed of the prizeAt the same time, the laureate's wife, who was present at the press conference, said that her husband had never been an ambitious person, and she was first of all surprised.On Monday, the Nobel Committee announced in Stockholm that the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Japanese professor Yoshinori Ohsumi of Tokyo University for discovering the mechanism of autophagy. Institute of Technology. A press release from the Nobel Committee states that "this year's laureate has discovered and described the mechanism of autophagy, the fundamental process of removing and utilizing cell components." Disturbances in the process of autophagy or cell cleansing of "garbage" can lead to the development of diseases such as cancer and neurological diseases, so knowledge about the mechanism of self-cleaning of cells can lead to a new and effective generation of drugs.
"Any open mechanism that studies cell death could potentially be useful in approaches to cancer treatment. Because the goal of cancer treatment is to destroy tumor cells as completely as possible," Maschan said.
He reported that before the discovery of autophagy, two mechanisms of cell death were known: "necrosis, when the cells swelled, swelled and burst, and the so-called apoptosis, which is exactly the opposite, when the cells shrank, the nucleus fragmented, and they died and were consumed by surrounding cells."
"But this mechanism, it is intermediate, also programmed, also adjustable large number genes, and it is a very interesting third mechanism of cell death. Therefore, of course, this is a very important fundamental discovery, from which really new approaches in the treatment of tumors may soon grow," the expert added.
At the same time, Maschan noted that this discovery can also be used in immunology, namely, to control infections and long-term support of immunity against their pathogens.
Chemist, engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel made his fortune primarily through the invention of dynamite and other explosives. At one time, Nobel became one of the richest on the planet.
In total, Nobel owned 355 inventions.
At the same time, the fame that the scientist enjoyed cannot be called good. In 1888 his brother Ludwig died. However, by mistake, journalists wrote in the newspapers about Alfred Nobel himself. Thus one day he read his own obituary in the press, entitled "Death Dealer Is Dead." This incident made the inventor think about what kind of memory he will remain in future generations. And Alfred Nobel changed his will.
The new will of Alfred Nobel offended the relatives of the inventor, who ended up with nothing.
A new will was read out to the millionaire in 1897.
According to this paper, all movable and immovable property of Nobel was to be converted into capital, which, in turn, should be placed in a reliable bank. The income from this capital must be divided annually by five equal parts and be awarded in the form of scientists who have made the most significant discoveries in the field of physics, chemistry, medicine; writers who created literary works; and also to those who have made the most significant contribution "to the rallying of nations, the abolition of slavery or the reduction of the size of existing armies and the promotion of peace congresses" (Peace Prize).
First laureates
Traditionally, the first award is given in the field of medicine and physiology. So the very first Nobel laureate in 1901 was the German bacteriologist Emil Adolf von Behring, who was developing a vaccine against diphtheria.
Next, the laureate in physics receives the prize. Wilhelm Roentgen was the first to receive this award for the discovery of the rays named after him.
The first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry was Jacob van't Hoff, who investigated the laws of thermodynamics for various solutions.
The first writer to receive this high honor was René Sully-Prudhom.
The Peace Prize is awarded last. In 1901 it was divided between Jean Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy. Swiss humanist Dunant is the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Frenchman Frederic Passy is the leader of the movement for peace in Europe.
It rarely happens when players in Dibrov’s TV show approach such expensive questions as 3 or 1.5 million rubles, so every time it becomes very interesting to find out which or which tricky questions can be so highly valued, and therefore we state that the question O Nobel laureate Frishe was offered by the editors of the program in the category of 1.5 million rubles. I will say right away that Andrei and Viktor won this question, and it was Burkovsky who managed to "catch" luck or intuition "by the tail" and play beautifully in this round. The couple reached this amount by spending all the hints at earlier levels, because only, thanks to their instinct, they were lucky enough to guess the correct discovery related to the language (movement in space) of the bees.
A little later, choosing an answer for 3 million rubles, Andrey outplayed himself, betting on an obvious, but not correct option. But since intuition is a delicate matter, then it will tell you, then not, right?
In the second picture, you can see how the question sounded in the original, i.e. the year of awarding this prize to Frisch is 1973, the variants themselves, and, tinted orange, the answer itself.
In March 1888, Alfred Nobel read his own obituary in a newspaper. Journalists confused him with his brother and hurried to report the death of the "dealer in death." Nobel was upset because of his brother, because of the mistake of journalists, but especially because of the tone of the obituary. Then he decided to leave behind something other than dynamite and ordered the establishment Nobel Prize.
“All my movable and immovable property should be converted by my executors into liquid values, and the capital thus collected should be placed in a reliable bank. The income from investments should belong to the fund, which will distribute them annually in the form of bonuses to those who during the previous year have brought the greatest benefit to humanity., - bequeathed Nobel.
For more than a hundred years, the Nobel Committee unwittingly violated the will of the founder several times and mistakenly awarded the prize for not very useful inventions.
miraculous lamps
Dane Niels Ryberg Finsen was in poor health since childhood. Growing up, he noticed that after walking in the sun he felt much better.
At the university, he began to study the healing effects of ultraviolet rays. He gained popularity in the scientific world thanks to innovations in the treatment of smallpox, but later switched to lupus - tuberculosis of the skin (not to be confused with systemic lupus erythematosus - an autoimmune disease). In 1885, he bought powerful arc carbon lamps for research, which played a cruel joke on him.
Finsen irradiated lupus patients with lamps daily for two hours. As a result, after a few months, they improved, and many even got rid of ugly scars and wounds and recovered. A year later, Finsen was already heading the institute for phototherapy, which bore his name. Half of the patients who received his treatment made a full recovery, and the other half felt much better.
Outstanding results were noticed, and in 1903 Finsen received the Nobel Prize in recognition of his merits in the treatment of diseases, especially lupus.
It was later revealed that the lenses Finsen used did not transmit ultraviolet radiation at all. It was not light at all that had the therapeutic effect, but singlet oxygen, which appeared due to the sparkling carbon rods of the lamp. Nevertheless, phototherapy, which Finsen became the founder of, is really effective for some diseases.
special molecule oxygen, which has twice as much energy as ordinary
wedge wedge
At the beginning of the 20th century, syphilis was an incurable disease. At the most severe stages, it gave complications to the brain, and patients developed progressive paralysis - a psycho-organic disease, death from which occurred within several years. A fifth of the patients in psychiatric clinics were sick with syphilis and, as a result, with progressive paralysis.
Julius Wagner-Jauregg worked in a psychiatric clinic and was interested in the physiological causes of mental illness. He noticed that among the patients with progressive paralysis were those who survived. It was they who were examined by Wagner-Jauregg. It turned out that all of them suffered a severe fever during their illness with progressive paralysis.
First, he infected patients with tuberculosis. But the tuberculosis fever was short and weak.
The doctor began to look for ways to cause severe fever in patients with progressive paralysis. He first infected them with tuberculosis and then treated it with tuberculin. But the tuberculous fever was short and weak, so that it was not suitable for the treatment of progressive paralysis. In addition, some patients died because tuberculin did not help them.
A breakthrough in research came in 1917, when quinine was discovered for the treatment of malaria: malarial fever was quite strong and prolonged. Wagner-Jauregg infected patients with malaria and then treated them with quinine.
Significant improvements occurred in 85% of patients, but mortality remained high. Later, the doctor isolated a weakened strain of malarial pathogens and reduced the danger of malaria therapy. Nevertheless, he was not always able to control the course of malaria, and some patients died. But then it was considered an acceptable risk.
In 1927, Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel Prize for discovering the therapeutic effect of malaria infection in the treatment of progressive paralysis.
His discovery is still controversial: whether malaria stimulated the immune system, or high body temperature created an unfavorable environment for syphilis pathogens, or both worked at the same time. We were saved from mass malaria therapy by the invention of penicillin, which helps to cure syphilis in the initial stages before progressive paralysis occurs in patients.
Get ready for complications
In 1948, Paul Müller received the Nobel Prize for discovering the dangerous properties of one of the most poisonous substances on earth - dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, known as DDT or dust. Müller found that DDT could be used as a powerful insecticide to control locusts, mosquitoes and other pests.
DDT was better than all known insecticides: it was considered to be of low toxicity, but it was deadly to all insects without exception. It was quite simple and cheap to produce and easy to spray on entire fields. For humans, a single dose of 500-700 mg was considered absolutely harmless, so the substance was sprayed even in populated areas.
DDT stopped epidemics of typhus in Naples, malaria in India, Greece and Italy, increased crops and gave hope for victory over hunger in many countries. During its wide use in the world, 4 million tons of dust have been sprayed. Its benefits were obvious, and the dangerous consequences came much later.
During its wide use in the world, 4 million tons of dust have been sprayed.
In the 1950s, the first studies appeared that proved that DDT accumulates in environment and animal organisms and leads to irreversible changes. Of particular concern was the fact that as it moved up the food chain, DDT increased the concentration, and theoretically it could reach doses that were deadly for humans. By 1970, all developed countries had banned the use of DDT in their territories.
Millions of tons of poisonous substances continue to "walk" around the world in the bodies of birds and animals, accumulate in soil and water, concentrate in plants and again enter the organisms of animals. Today, traces of DDT are found even in the Arctic. This process will continue for several more generations: the period of decomposition of DDT is 180 years, and we still do not know about all the consequences of its use.
The secret of obedience
Rosemary Kennedy - the elder sister of the President of the United States - was a difficult child. In early childhood, she pleased her mother with her complaisant character, gentleness and obedience. Over time, the girl began to lag behind her peers in development, with difficulty remembering something new, could not master the letter. When Rosemary noticed that she was different from other children, her character deteriorated: she became irritable and quick-tempered.
In 1941, a frustrated Joe Kennedy gave permission for his daughter to undergo a surgical procedure that doctors said would calm Rosemary and make her more manageable. Dr. Walter Freeman pierced the soft bones above Rosemary's eye and cut open her brain.
