Chicago Native Shares Nobel Prize In Medicine
UPDATED 10/03/11 11:11 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago-born and trained researcher is one of three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in medicine.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, Dr. Bruce Beutler was born in Chicago in 1957, and received his medical degree from the University of Chicago in 1981, when he was just 23.
Beutler is now chairman of genetics at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports
Podcast
Together with French scientist Jules Hoffmann, Beutler shares half the 10 million-kronor ($1.5 million) award for the groundbreaking work in the field of activating the body's own immune system, Nobel committee at Stockholm Karolinska institute said.
Beutler and Hoffmann were cited "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity."
Receiving the other half of the prize was Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, who was honored for "his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity." Steinman died of pancreatic cancer this past Friday, just days before the announcement.
"Their work has opened up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer and inflammatory disease," the citation said.
Beutler and Hoffman discovered receptor proteins that can recognize bacteria and other microorganisms as they enter the body, and activate the first line of defense in the immune system.
Steinman discovered dendritic cells in the immune system, which help regulate the next stage of the immune system's response, when the invading microorganisms are purged from the body.
The trio's discoveries have enabled the development of new methods for treating and preventing diseases, including improved vaccines and in attempts to help the immune system to attack tumors, the committee said.
The medicine award kicked off a week of Nobel Prize announcements, and will be followed by the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The winners of the economics award will be announced on Oct. 10.
The coveted prizes were established by wealthy Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel - the inventor of dynamite - except for the economics award, which was created by Sweden's central bank in 1968 in Nobel's memory. The prizes are always handed out on Dec. 10, on the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
Last year's medicine award went to British professor Robert Edwards for fertility research that led to the first test tube baby.
(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
