Nobel Prize for Medicine Awarded to Scientist Who Prolonged Own His Life With His Research
The prize, awarded jointly to three scientists, celebrates the discovery of the immune system's front-line responders--though one winner succumbed to cancer three days before Immune cells that protect us from the dangers of this microbe planet are behind this year's Nobel Prize in medicine. Two of the three winners discovered receptor proteins that can recognize microbial invaders, activating the innate immune response. The third discovered dendritic cells, which serve as surveillance cells and can switch on the body's adaptive immune response. One half is awarded jointly to Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffmann and one half goes to Ralph Steinman. But Steinman died on Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to Rockefeller University in New York, where he was a cell biologist and director of its Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases. He was diagnosed four years ago, and was able to extend his life using a dendritic-cell based immunotherapy of...