Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young win 2017 Nobel Prize for medicine

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2017 has been awarded to the American trio of Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young for “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm”.

According to the Nobel committee’s citation, the group were recognised for their discoveries explaining “how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth’s revolutions.”

The team used fruit flies to identify a gene that controls the creatures’ daily rhythm. The gene encodes a protein within the cell during the night which then degrades during the day.

When there is a mismatch between this internal “clock” and the external surroundings, it can affect the organism’s wellbeing – for example, in humans, when we experience jet lag.

It is the 108th time the prize has been awarded and was announced at the Nobel Forum at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

The winners will share a prize of 9m Swedish kronor (£8.23m), and each receive a medal engraved with their name.

Source: The Guardian