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2006诺贝尔医学奖述评
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is shared by Professor Andrew Z. Fire at Stanford University, California, USA, and Professor Craig C. Mello at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, USA. They receive the prize for their discovery that double-stranded RNA triggers suppression of gene activity in a homology-dependent manner, a process named RNA interference (RNAi). Their discovery revealed a new mechanism for gene regulation, and the biochemical machinery involved plays a key role in many essential cellular processes. Double-stranded RNA synthesized within the cell can reduce or abolish gene activity by RNAi-like mechanisms. This control system for gene expression has proven to be important for both the development of an organism and the physiological functions of cells and tissues. Furthermore, RNAi protects against RNA virus infections, especially in plants and invertebrate animals, and secures genome stability by keeping mobile elements silent. Today, double-stranded RNA is used as a powerful tool to experimentally elucidate the function of essentially any gene in a cell. The discovery of RNAi has already had an immense impact on biomedical research and will most likely lead to novel medical applications in the future.
Andrew Z. Fire
1/2 of the prize
USA
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA, USA
b. 1959
Craig C. Mello
1/2 of the prize
USA
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Worcester, MA, USA
b. 1960
相关链接http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2006/index.html Nomination and selection process
As compared with some other prizes, the Prize nomination and selection process is long and rigorous. This is an important reason why the Prizes have grown in importance and prestige over the years to become the most important prizes in their field.
Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about three thousand selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations. In the case of the Peace Prize, for example, the people may be asked to make nominations:
* Members of national assemblies and governments of states;
* Members of international courts;
* University rectors;
* Professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology;
* Directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
* Peace Prize laureates and/or board members of organisations that have been awarded the Peace Prize;
* Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee;
* Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
Similar requirements are in place for the other Prizes.
The submission deadline for nominations, which is strictly enforced, is January 31 of the year in which the award is to be made[3]. Self-nominations are automatically disqualified and, as mentioned above, only living persons are eligible.
Unlike many other awards, the names of those nominated for a Nobel Prize are never publicly announced and they are never meant to learn that they were considered for the Prize. Nomination records are sealed for fifty years.
After the nomination deadline, a committee screens and filters the nominations to produce a list of around two hundred preliminary candidates. This list is then sent to selected experts in each nominee's field of work, from whose responses a shortlist of around fifteen is made. The committee then writes a report with recommendations and sends it to the relevant institution. As an example of these institution's sizes, the Assembly for the Prize for Medicine has fifty members. The members of the institution meet and select a winner or winners by vote.
The process varies slightly between the different disciplines. For instance, the Literature Prize is rarely awarded to more than one person per year, whereas other Prizes now often involve two or three collaborators.
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No posthumous nominations
Posthumous nominations for Prizes are not allowed. This has sometimes sparked criticism that people deserving of a Nobel Prize did not receive the award because they died before being nominated. In two cases the Prize has been awarded posthumously to people who died in the months between their nomination and selection as a winner: UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld (1961, Peace) and Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1931, Literature).
Since 1974, awards have not been allowed for a deceased person. William Vickrey (1996, Economics) died before he could receive the prize, but after it was announced.
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Award lag
The interval between the achievement being recognized and the award varies from discipline to discipline.
Prizes in Literature are typically awarded to recognize cumulative lifetime body of work rather than a single achievement. In this case the notion of "lag" does not directly apply.
Prizes in Peace are often awarded within few years from the events they recognize. For instance, Kofi Annan was awarded the 2001 Peace Prize just 4 years after becoming a Secretary-General of the UN.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-12-13 05:11
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