2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Three Scientists from China, Japan, and the USA

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine was jointly awarded to three scientists from China, Japan, and the USA for their research on parasitic diseases. According to the Associated Press, "Youyou Tu," a Chinese scientist, discovered a highly effective drug for malaria by examining ancient medical texts, while William Campbell, an American scientist, and Satoshi Ōmura, a Japanese scientist, both microbiologists, developed a new treatment method for parasitic diseases caused by worms. The $960,000 Nobel Prize was awarded jointly to these three researchers. Youyou Tu discovered artemisinin, which is very effective against malaria and currently saves millions of lives worldwide. Inspired by ancient Chinese medical texts, she discovered this drug during medical research conducted for the Chinese army. William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura discovered another drug called avermectin, which can treat gastrointestinal parasitic diseases caused by river worms, affecting millions in Asia and Africa. The Nobel Committee stated that this year's medical prize winners, all over eighty years old, conducted their research in the 1970s and 1980s, providing humanity with powerful tools to combat debilitating diseases. The committee added in its statement: "The results of these discoveries have a wide-ranging impact on improving human health and reducing suffering and disease among people." William Campbell, 85, an Irish-born American scientist, is a senior researcher at Drew University in New Jersey. He told the Associated Press that he made his major discovery in the 1970s while working for the pharmaceutical company Merck. Satoshi Ōmura, 80, a senior professor at Kitasato University in Japan, is unsure if he deserves this award. He told Japanese news agencies: "I have learned a lot from microbial organisms, and my life has somehow depended on them. For this reason, I prefer to dedicate this award to microbial organisms." The drugs discovered by Satoshi Ōmura and William Campbell are very effective in treating parasitic diseases such as river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. River blindness affects the skin and eyes of its victims and can lead to blindness if advanced. According to World Health Organization statistics, 90% of cases of this disease occur in Africa. Youyou Tu, 84, is a researcher at the National Academy of Medical Sciences in China. She began working as a junior researcher on a government project to discover a malaria drug in 1969. She referred to ancient scientific texts to find the necessary materials for preparing this drug. The artemisinin she discovered had a very effective result against malaria, which had a widespread outbreak in the 1960s. Malaria is primarily transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, and despite all recent efforts, it still claims about half a million lives annually, most of whom are in Africa. The medical prize is the first of the annual Nobel Foundation awards to be announced. Winners of the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Peace are expected to be announced in the coming days. The winner of the Nobel Economic Prize will be determined next Monday. The exact date for the announcement of the Nobel Literature Prize has not yet been specified, but it is expected to be announced this Thursday.