Researchers Harvey J. Alter, Charles M. Rice and Michael Houghton were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, a breakthrough that the Nobel Assembly described as a “decisive contribution.”
This morning, researchers Harvey J. Alter, Charles M. Rice and Michael Houghton were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, a breakthrough that the Nobel Assembly described as a “decisive contribution” which “made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.” Hepatitis, or liver inflammation, has a number of causes, including viral infections, such as Hepatitis A, which can transmitted by contaminated food and personal contact, and Hepatitis B, transmitted by blood, semen, or other body fluids. However, Harvey J. Alter soon discovered that Hepatitis A or B did not explain all cases of the occurrence of hepatitis in patients who had received blood transfusions, referring to these as “non-A, non-B” hepatitis. This led to a search for what could be causing “non-A, non-B” hepatitis. “In the 80s, my colleagues and I [were] working in California. [We] spent several years trying to identify the virus using molecular techniques. [It] turned out to be very difficult, even with modern techniques at that time,” said Michael Houghton, at a press briefing this afternoon. “It was like looking for a needle in the haystack, though we eventually succeeded at identifying one clone of Hepatitis C out of several hundred million.” This discovery was made in 1989, where Houghton, Qui-Lim Choo and George Kuo together discovered the Hepatitis C virus, while working at the Chiron Corporation in California.
