nobel prize for medicine announced

Some time back, commenter HI won a guest post by predicting the Nobel laureates in Medicine. He sent me the text a little while ago, and I've finally gotten around to posting it (things have been crazy around here): Since Chad gave me the right to guest ... It was fun to be able to predict some of the Nobel Prize winners this year and last year. It is more interesting when I already know a little bit about the subject and the recipients when the Nobel Prize is announced. ...Three scientists who discovered the important role that the structures at the ends of chromosomes play in protecting genetic information have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Second, the Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded by an institute affiliated with a Swedish university hospital. This is very different from the Peace Prize committee, which is picked by the Norwegian Parliament. ...All the winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize have been announced. To see the list of winners for the various prizes, visit the Nobel Foundation official website. Of special interest to the Science community are the awards for Physiology or ...The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will go to Elizabeth Blackburn, a biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, Carol Greider, a geneticist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Jack Szostak, a geneticist ...This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists — Drs. Jack W. Szostak, Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Carol W. Greider. The laureates have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a ...The 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to 3 researchers, Elizabeth Blackburn from the University of California, Carol Greider from Johns Hopkins University, and Jack Szostak of the Massachusetts General Hospital. ...Also Posted By The OttO Show:Socialized Medicine: Reagan Lashes Out From The Past (With Video) – October 29th, 2009FOXNews.com: Obama Cannot Accept Nobel Prize Without Congress' Consent, Three House Republicans Claim – October 28th, ... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday that the Senate's version of a health care reform bill will include a so-called public option. Moveon.org issued its e-mail to its supporters threatening revolt one day later. ...The chemistry prize was the third of this years Nobel Prizes to be announced following the medicine prize on Monday and the physics prize Tuesday….Read the Full Story. VN:F [1.6.9_936]. Rating: 0 (from 0 votes). Related posts: ...STOCKHOLM - Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak of the US have won this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine, it was announced in Stockholm Monday.
We were given the "stranded island" theme after reading Lord of the Flies in English. This is basically the only short story I ever finished in my 15 years and I'd like some criticism so I can play off of it for my novel. Here it goes.

Survival

When Shelby announced the five of us were going on a trip in her shiny, new private jet, I was pretty excited. Not annoyed and ready to set off on a colorful rampage about Shelby’s growing pile of expensive junk that’s just eating away at all of her inner-substance, like I normally do whenever she flashes a ridiculous new toy. But this time I didn’t do anything of the sort, probably because I’d be getting something out of this too.
The jet was whimsical. It had eight leather cushioned seats and ice coolers with those fancy juices that rich people always drink. I sat next to Clay. He somehow fell into a deep, snoring sleep with his headphones blasting his London themed play list. He didn’t bother me though. I grinned a great big, goofy smile the entire trip. I’ve never been to London. This was going to be incredible. I couldn’t help but feel pleased with Shelby and her spoiled rotten nature. Until we crashed…
I awoke face up, back in the sand, my eyes shot open like at the beginning of every Lost episode. Actually, this entire scenario was paying an awfully similar resemblance to a Lost episode.
I rolled over groggily and felt the scar bleeding down my forehead. Chuck was lying about a foot away from me, unconscious. And that coconut dangling off a palm tree straight above his head was looking very unsteady. “Jeez louises,” I mumbled to myself as dragging Chuck away from that palm tree.
Now, I’m CPR certified but I’m also fourteen and received the certification as a result of winter vacation boredom. Plus, the dummies we practiced on do not compare to Chuck. Small, golf-fanatic Chuck. I need to save his life.
I preceded with the procedure and never felt more relieved in my life when Chuck began dry-heaving like a mad man. “What (cough) happened?” Chuck coughed the words out like he was attempting to bring down the Eiffel Tower with his bare fist.
“Well, Chuck,” I try to fit Chuck’s name in every sentence I say to him, it’s a nice name, “ Shelby’s jet took a whirlwind of a turn.”
“Oh,” Chuck said flatly, the news didn’t seem to shock him. He then sat up, coughed a little, groaned, turned his head and winced, “Wow, maybe you should do something about that,” he said, referring to my scar.
“I see a Nobel Prize for medicine in your future, Chuck,” I didn’t like being told if I should do something or not, it leads to hostility. “You alright, Chuck?”
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he hacked.
“ Good, ‘cause we’ve got some people to find,” Chuck and I slowly rose up, still dizzy from the previous events. I didn’t take the time to notice our surrounding until then It was quite nice, despite what this island will always be associated with. Although, no beach is that more distinguishing than another, but this will forever be The Place Where We Experienced the (hopefully) Biggest Trauma of Our Lives.
We looked around, squinted into the ocean that was so clearly blue it made you think waste does not exist on this planet of ours. No one seemed to be in there so that’s always good. A little down the island Chuck spotted good-sized specs and we concluded that those specs were our friends and we began running down the beach. The running soon turned into a wobble and then transformed into a hobble, we were a bit beat up. We limped the rest of the way and Chuck saw that as a good time to start up some small talk.
“So, you ever read King Dork?” he asks.
“No, Chuck.”
“Oh, well it’s pretty good. Funny. Clever kid. He plays in a band. I want to be in a band, for a long time I’ve been wanting to be in a band. And he’s not a musical prophet or anything, just a dorky kid in a band.”
“Huh,” I didn’t want to think about books at the moment being that I had a feeling I won’t be reading one for some time. I was intent on thinking about the stuff that’s not logically working out right. I’m not one for geography but I couldn’t figure out how we landed on a brutally hot tropical island on our way to London.
“Well, did you hear MGMT’s new song? It’s pretty groovy,” Chuck tries again.
“Oh yeah, they’re pretty good,” Chuck can always make you think of something happy.
Sooner or later, more later than sooner, we were close enough to make out what those specs were- Clay and Lorelei, flailing there arms around shouting ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’ as loud as they could go. And they could go loud.
“What ‘ya doin?” I ask, even though I already had it pretty much figured out.
“We’re pretending we’re in London,” Lorelei giggled.
“Ah,” typical.
They were glowing, their faces. But their condition wasn’t so good. Clay had newly developing bruises all down his arms and Lorelei had a somewhat disturbing scab on her chin and bloodstains a


Nobel Prize winner Craig C. Mello smiling this morning at the UMass Medical School in Worcester.

By Carolyn Johnson, Globe Staff

A University of Massachusetts scientist won the Nobel Prize in Medicine today just eight years after he and a collaborator discovered a powerful new way to turn off genes. The discovery is revolutionizing medical research, allowing biotech researchers to rapidly zero in on possible genetic causes for HIV, Alzheimer's and dozens of other devastating diseases.

Craig C. Mello, 45, is the first professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to received the prestigious award, which was announced this morning by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Mello won for his work with Andrew Fire, then a scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Fire graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in 1983.

The pair discovered that a particular form of ribonucleic acid, which they dubbed RNA interference, acts almost like a biological light switch, turning "off" specific genes within human cells. The cell uses RNA interference to regulate its genetic climate, but Mello and Fire showed that it could be manipulated to study genes' behavior. RNA interference -- named one of the top 10 science breakthroughs by the journal Science in 2002 and 2003 -- has already helped produce a possible treatment for macular degeneration.

"The interesting thing about this prize is so short a time it's taken from the discovery to the Nobel," said Phil Sharp, an institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who also has co-founded a biotech company called Alnylam that is working to develop RNAi therapies. "It's just been such a fundamental change in how we understand biological systems, and there's also more to come.

Mello, who lives in Shrewsbury, told the Associated Press that the award came as a "big surprise."

"I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't really expect it for perhaps a few more years," Mello said. "Both Andrew and I are fairly young, 40 or so, and it's only been about eight years since the discovery."

UMass Medical School Chancellor and Dean Aaron Lazare said it was "an incredible day" for the school.

"We are so very proud that Dr. Mello is the Medical School's first recipient of this illustrious prize," Lazare in a written statement. "His enthusiasm for scientific pursuits and innovation is an inspiration to his faculty colleagues, postdoctoral fellows, students and staff alike."

Fire, 47, now at Stanford University, and Mello published their research in the journal Nature in 1998.

Erna Moller, a member of the Nobel committee, said that their research helped shed new light on a complicated process that had confused researchers for years. The existence of RNA intereference helped them understand why genes that they added to cells sometimes did not seem to do anything.

"It was like opening the blinds in the morning," Moller said. "Suddenly you can see everything clearly."

Fire was awakened in his California home this morning by a call from the Nobel committee.

"I thought I must be dreaming or maybe it was the wrong number," said Fire, who convinced himself of the good news by checking the Nobel website.

"It makes me feel great. It makes me feel incredibly indebted at the same time," he said. "You realize how many other people have been major parts of our efforts."

The Nobel Prize winners receive $1.4 million and will be honored in Stockholm on Dec. 10 at a banquet, which will include Scandinavian royalty.

There are also Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics. The namesake of the awards, Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in his will.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"Nobel Prize" from Boston Globe.