It’s that time of year again when we get to meet the new Nobel Prize winners. In just a few hours, we’ll know who will receive the physics award, but first, we must put the spotlight on the proud winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The honor goes to Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi, recognized for his discoveries and studies related to autophagy, a critical process for the degradation and subsequent recycling of cellular components.
We all know that the human body is constantly changing, but that’s just a superficial understanding. Uncovering the mechanisms behind these changes, understanding each of their steps, and highlighting their influence on the development of diseases and other special conditions are the things that, sooner or later, end up saving lives. The work of experts is truly extraordinary, and a perfect reflection of this is the Nobel Prize in Medicine, which between 2011 and 2015 was awarded jointly. However, yesterday we witnessed the end of that trend. In the European morning, the Nobel Committee announced as the winner the cell biologist and professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yoshinori Ohsumi.
What did Professor Ohsumi’s work focus on? On "discover and elucidate" the mechanisms related to autophagy, which in not very technical terms we can call "cellular recycling". The word autophagy was originally used by Belgian biochemist Christian de Duve in 1963, and although the concept of "cells devouring themselves" doesn’t sound good, it is in fact fundamental to our survival. Autophagy is responsible for disassembling, degrading, and recycling within the lysosome (whose discovery allowed de Duve to win the Nobel in 1974) cellular components considered aberrant, severely deteriorated, or unnecessary. Ohsumi’s efforts on yeast cells, frequently used as a model for human cells, allowed the identification of the genes and the biochemical processes required for autophagy.
Ohsumi admitted to feeling "surprised" but honored after the announcement, while several of his colleagues, including professor David Rubinsztein of the University of Cambridge, celebrated the recognition. Failures in the autophagy process lead to all kinds of diseases, including various types of cancer, diabetes, and complex neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Understanding autophagy more deeply and regulating its function could lead to the development of specific treatments. A new Nobel that travels to Japan, the 25th for that country, and definitely well deserved.
