인류의 건강 지킴이로 평생을 노력해온 과학자 3명의 노벨 의학상 수상은 어쩌면 때늦은 감이 있다. 한과학자는 1971년도의 연구노력한 결과가 인정받아 거의 반세기가 지난, 이번에야 공로를 인정 받은것으로 이해된다. 그분들의 노력 덕택에 전인류가 조금씩이나마 불치의 병으로 부터 치료방법의 실마리를 찾고 있다고 하겠다.
한국출신 과학자들도 추천 명단에 약간명이 있었던 것으로 알려 졌었는데, 그분들의 연구업적도 시간이 지나면 더 빛을 발휘하여 수상자의 대열에 오를것으로 믿고싶다.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29504761#"
Edvard Moser, May-Britt Moser and John O'Keefe share the Nobel Prize
Novel Prize 상 위원회는 생리의학 부분의 수상자로, 뇌활동의 GPS로 불려지는, 활동체계를 발견한 3명의 과학자들에게 수여하게 됐다고 발표했다.
두과학자는 부부로 공동연구한 공로를 인정받은 것이고, 영국에서 연구하고 있는 John O'Keefe 과학자는 공적이 뒤늦게 인정되여 이번에 수여받게 됐다고 한다.
그들의 연구내용은 뇌가 어떻게 현재 내가 있는곳을 알아내서 기억하고, 다시 현재 있는곳에서 다른곳으로 이동하는 경로를 GPS 처럼 추적할수 있는가를 알아낸 것으로, 앞으로 Alt Heimer's 질병과 Dementia 환자들을 치료하는데 많은 도움을 줄수 있을것으로 그연구 공로를 인정한 것으로 보인다.
한국출신 과학자들도 추천 명단에 약간명이 있었던 것으로 알려 졌었는데, 그분들의 연구업적도 시간이 지나면 더 빛을 발휘하여 수상자의 대열에 오를것으로 믿고싶다.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29504761#"
Edvard Moser, May-Britt Moser and John O'Keefe share the Nobel PrizeNovel Prize 상 위원회는 생리의학 부분의 수상자로, 뇌활동의 GPS로 불려지는, 활동체계를 발견한 3명의 과학자들에게 수여하게 됐다고 발표했다.
두과학자는 부부로 공동연구한 공로를 인정받은 것이고, 영국에서 연구하고 있는 John O'Keefe 과학자는 공적이 뒤늦게 인정되여 이번에 수여받게 됐다고 한다.
그들의 연구내용은 뇌가 어떻게 현재 내가 있는곳을 알아내서 기억하고, 다시 현재 있는곳에서 다른곳으로 이동하는 경로를 GPS 처럼 추적할수 있는가를 알아낸 것으로, 앞으로 Alt Heimer's 질병과 Dementia 환자들을 치료하는데 많은 도움을 줄수 있을것으로 그연구 공로를 인정한 것으로 보인다.
The Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been awarded to three scientists who discovered the brain's "GPS system".
UK-based researcher Prof John O'Keefe as well as May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser share the award.
They discovered how the brain knows where we are and is able to navigate from one place to another.
Their findings may help explain why in Alzheimer's disease patients cannot recognise their surroundings.
"The discoveries have solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries," the Nobel Assembly said.
Inner GPS
Prof O'Keefe, from University College London, discovered the first part of the brain's internal positioning system in 1971.
He showed that a set of nerve cells became activated whenever a rat was in one location in a room.
A different set of cells were active when the rat was in a different area.
Prof O'Keefe argued these "place cells" - located in the hippocampus - formed a map within the brain.
In 2005, husband and wife team, May-Britt and Edvard, discovered a different part of the brain which acts more like a nautical chart.
These "grid cells" are akin to lines of longitude and latitude, helping the brain to judge distance and navigate.
The work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.
The Nobel committee said the combination of grid and place cells "constitutes a comprehensive positioning system, an inner GPS, in the brain".
They added: "[This system is] affected in several brain disorders, including dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
"A better understanding of neural mechanisms underlying spatial memory is therefore important and the discoveries of place and grid cells have been a major leap forward to advance this endeavour."
'Cognitive revolution'
Dr Colin Lever, from the University of Durham, worked in Prof O'Keefe's laboratory for ten years and has already dreamt on two occasions that his former mentor had won the award.
He told the BBC: "He absolutely deserves the Nobel Prize, he created a cognitive revolution, his research was really forward thinking in suggesting animals create representations of the external world inside their brains."
"Place cells help us map our way around the world, but in humans at least they form part of the spatiotemporal scaffold in our brains that supports our autobiographical memory.
"The world was not ready for his original report of place cells in 1971, people didn't believe that 'place' was what best characterised these cells, so there was no great fanfare at that time.
"But his work on hippocampal spatial mapping created the background for discovering grid cells and with grid cells, the world was prepared and we all thought wow this is big news.
"Plus John taught the Mosers how to do these recordings!"
Also commenting on the announcement, Prof John Stein form the University of Oxford, said: "This is great news and well deserved.
"I remember how great was the scoffing in the early 1970s when John first described 'place cells'.
"Now, like so many ideas that were at first highly controversial, people say 'Well that's obvious!'"
No comments:
Post a Comment