Nobel Prize In Medicine Goes To Treatments For Malaria And Other Parasitic Diseases

Three scientists who developed treatments against parasites have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Their discoveries “have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually. The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable,” said the Swedish committee on Monday when announcing the award, which is worth about 8 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million) and will be split among the three recipients.Half will go to William C. Campbell of Drew University in New Jersey and Satoshi Ōmura of Kitasato University in Japan, for the development of the drug avermectin, which treats river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and other roundworm parasite infections.The other half goes to Youyou Tu of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who discovered artemisinin, a drug against the malaria parasite that has saved many lives over the last decade.Read more at...BuzzFeed News, October 2015.