The winners of this year’s Lasker Awards for biomedical research include groundbreaking insights into liver transplantation and also cellular motor proteins. These insights have already had an impact on the medical field.
Michael Sheetz, James Spudich and Ronald Vale won the award for their 1970s studies on Nitella, a spindly alga, as well as squid axons, which allowed the researchers to uncover the cytoskeletal motor protein, kinesin, which works on microtubules to allow for muscle contraction and transport of molecular necessities. The research has allowed insight into possible new drug developments for cardiac disease and cancer treatment.
Roy Calne and Thomas Starzl shared the award for pioneering the use of immune suppressing drugs, that prevented the immune system from rejecting liver transplants. Their work brought liver transplantation into common medical practice.
The Lasker Award endows each winner with $250,000 and often foreshadows the receipt of a Nobel Prize in medicine; 81 Lasker laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.
Source: Science Daily
