BioMed Central Blog
Nobel Prize for Editorial Board Members of two BioMed Central journals
Earlier this month,
the Editors of Infectious Agents and Cancer and Journal of the
International AIDS Society had the honour of being able to congratulate
Editorial Board members Harald zur Hausen and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
on jointly receiving the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their respective
contributions in elucidating the roles played by viruses in causing severe
human disease.
Harald zur Hausen
challenged contemporary understanding of the aetiology of cervical cancer when
he postulated that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) acted as the
oncogenic factor causing the disease. His research
into the area, pursued over more than a decade, eventually led to the
development of vaccines against the tumourigenic, high risk strains, HPV16 and
18. An interview held with Harald zur Hausen
immediately following the awards and further information can be accessed at Nobelprize.org.
The discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier was a key
development underpinning the current knowledge of the disease and prospective
treatments. The researchers isolated
and cultured cells from the lymph nodes of infected patients, detected activity
of the retroviral enzyme reverse transcriptase and observed retroviral
particles budding from infected cells. Retrovirology has published an Editorial discussing the
award.
At BioMed Central, we are thrilled to join the journals’
Editors in congratulating Harald zur Hausen and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi for their
achievements.
Posted by Sally Robertson at 12:43 Comments (0)
