2016 Nobel Prize Winner Yoshinori Ohsumi's Discoveries Could Change How We Treat Disease

Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi, 71, won the 2016 Nobel Prize on Monday for his research on autophagy ― a metabolic recycling process in which cells eat parts of themselves to survive and stay healthy. His initial work, first started in 1992, focused on the genes behind the autophagy process in yeast cells. Autophagy, however, has implications for several human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, infectious diseases and diabetes. Now drugs that can target the process are being tested in early-stage clinical trials in human beings, which could fundamentally change everything from the way we treat dementia disorders to how we eradicate cancerous growths.  Autophagy is a normal part of a cell’s lifespan. Individual cells can “eat” parts of themselves, especially old or damaged parts, and recycle the material to help keep themselves healthy. Think of it like recycling: By shedding damaged or dying parts inside the cell, the cell has a new resource from which to repair itself and keep itself running.  Autophagy helps address normal damage and wear and tear to cells, but also plays a role in everything from fighting bacterial or viral infections to in-cell differentiation in embryo development. A dysfunctional autophagy process has also been linked to Type 2 diabetes and other genetic diseases, the Nobel Prize site notes. In particular, it may play an important role in two distinct disease types that are diff...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news