BRIT CANCER DOCTORS WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE; Research work may save millions.Byline: JILL PALMER, Medical Correspondent TWO British scientists were yesterday awarded the Nobel Prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. for Medicine for their pioneering research in cancer treatment. Sir Paul Nurse Sir Paul M. Nurse, FRS, (b. January 25, 1949) is a British biochemist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Leland H. Hartwell and R. Timothy Hunt for their discoveries regarding cell cycle regulation by cyclin and cyclin dependent kinases. , director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund The Imperial Cancer Research Fund was a cancer research organization in the United Kingdom. In 2002, it merged with Cancer Research Campaign to form Cancer Research UK. , and colleague Dr Tim Hunt Sir Richard Timothy (Tim) Hunt, FRS, (b. February 19,1943) is a British biochemist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Leland Hartwell and Sir Paul Nurse for their discoveries regarding cell cycle regulation by cyclin and cyclin-dependent have been heralded for discoveries which could save millions of lives. They share the pounds 642,000 award equally with American scientist Dr Leland Hartwell. The trio won the Nobel Prize for their work on regulators of the cell cycle - the system that controls how cells reproduce and divide. They isolated the genes involved, found out what they do, and discovered an enzyme which controls when DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. is copied and separated during cell division. The work will lead to the development of new drugs to tackle the killer disease. Sir Paul, 52, who was knighted in 1999, said: "Naturally, I am thrilled to win the Nobel Prize but this is a team effort and was made possible by the efforts of the many researchers I worked with over the years. "The ICRF ICRF Imperial Cancer Research Fund ICRF International Celestial Reference Frame ICRF Israel Cancer Research Fund ICRF Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency ICRF International Coalition for Religious Freedom (since 1984; Falls Church, Virginia) took me on 15 years ago as a young scientist with a mission to understand the biology of cancer. We now have a better idea of how it develops and that knowledge will underpin future prevention and treatment." Dr Hunt, head of the cell-cycle control at ICRF, said: "The knowledge we gained about how cancer cells work should lead to exciting new therapies. "It has opened up a new chapter in cancer research and it is fantastic this has been recognised." Prof Gordon McVie, director general of the Cancer Research Campaign said: "I'm delighted British research is being recognised in this way." Nobel Prize winners Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Year Recipient(s) 1969 Ragnar Frisch Jan Tinbergen 1970 Paul A. Samuelson 1971 Simon Kuznets 1972 Sir John R. Hicks Kenneth J. are decided by a group of 50 professors in Stockholm. Previous British winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine include Francis Crick, James Watson and Maurice Wilkins in 1962 for discovery of the structure of DNA, and Richard Roberts and Philip Sharp in 1993 for discoveries of split genes. j.palmer@mirror.co.uk CAPTION(S): EXCITED: Dr Tim Hunt; THRILLED: Sir Paul Nurse |
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