Three scientists won the Nobel Medicine Prize today for work on the immune system, but in a surprising twist the jury learned that one of the winners of the award that cannot be given posthumously had died just days before.<\/p>\n
The winners were Bruce Beutler of the United States, Luxembourg-born Jules Hoffmann, who is a naturalised French citizen, and Ralph Steinman of Canada, who it was discovered Monday had died on September 30.<\/p>\n
“This year’s Nobel laureates have revolutionised our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation,” the jury said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The three were lauded for their work on the body’s complex defence system in which signalling molecules unleash antibodies and killer cells to respond to invading microbes.<\/p>\n
Understanding this throws open the door to new drugs and also tackling immune disorders, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, in which the body mysteriously attacks itself.<\/p>\n
“Their work has opened up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer and inflammatory diseases,” the jury said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"