Japanese biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi received a Medical Nobel Prize for his study about self-eating cells. Ohsumi's study is about how cells work like a garbage disposal system. Basically, it is about cells can recycle and break down in order to help scientists fight different diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
Ohsumi, a 71-year old professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology won the Kyoto Prize, Japan's highest recognition for global achievement last 2012.
In a report from Chicago Tribune, The Karolinka Institute acknowledged Ohsumi's work since the 1990's about his discovery on cell self-eating or autophagy. Autophagy is a process wherein cells engulf damaged cells while replacing them with new and healthy ones to prevent any further damage.
Self-Eating Cells
Autophagy is a weird phenomenon since its process is destruction before fixation. It aims to protect and produce defense system for the body.
Research about integrating autophagy is conducted in order to create drugs that will target various diseases such as Diabetes, Parkinson's disease and cancer as the committee has discussed.
Though the insights about autophagy sparked the first discussions 50 years ago, Ohsumi is the one who focused and gave importance to how the process works. The scientist first used baker's yeast as his first sample for understanding how cells break apart, according to BBC.
Ohsumi's Work Wants To Help The Medical World
In relation with Ohsumi's discovery about cells, blindness can be cured with the help of stem cells.
Ohsumi's cell "self-eating" discovery is a great innovation in the medicine field. It helps the doctors and researchers to understand how cells work and how cells can be destroyed. Ohsumi emphasized that cells are the building blocks of life, Independent reported.
Autophagy was a mystery before but it was clearer when Ohsumi's work was recognized and was planned to be the basis of certain studies and production for drugs that will help a lot of patients.
"As a boy, the Nobel Prize was a dream, but after starting my research, it was out of my picture," Ohsumi told the reporters in Tokyo. "In a way, that's what science is all about, and the joy of finding something inspires me."
