Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovery of Hepatitis C virus

Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were chosen for the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1,118,000), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are over 70 million cases of hepatitis worldwide and 400,000 deaths each year. The disease is chronic and a major cause of liver inflammation and cancer.

The medicine prize carries particular significance this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted the importance that medical research has for societies and economies around the world.