Nobel Prize For Medicine Or Physiology 2020 announced

Nobel Prize For Medicine Or Physiology 2020 announced

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Science and technology; Biotechnology

In news

• Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were chosen for the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.

Important value additions

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) 

• It is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus
• Family: Flaviviridae. 
• It is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, abbreviated HCC) and lymphomas in humans.
• Unlike hepatitis A and B, there is currently no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C infection
• The World Health Organisation estimates there are over 70 million cases of hepatitis worldwide and 400,000 deaths each year. The disease is chronic and a major cause of liver inflammation and cancer.