THE Nobel Assembly has steered clear of controversy with this year鈥檚 Prize
for Physiology or Medicine by awarding it to a scientist responsible for key
advances in our understanding of cell biology.
The winner, German-born molecular biologist G眉nter Blobel, established
in the 1970s that special peptide tags guide newly synthesised proteins to their
correct cellular destinations. Blobel鈥檚 research is now taken for granted. But
in the 1960s it was unclear how proteins manage to penetrate the tightly sealed,
lipid-based membranes that surround cell compartments. The work has furthered
our understanding of some hereditary diseases and our ability to grow important
drugs in cell cultures.
Protein engineering expert Richard Perham of Cambridge University says: 鈥淚t
seems like A-level biology now. But those experiments had to be done.鈥�
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In the 1970s, working at Rockefeller University, New York, Blobel discovered
that newly synthesised proteins contain peptide signals that shepherd them
across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) into its interior. Next,
the proteins are carried in vesicles that bud off the ER and travel to another
cellular compartment called the Golgi apparatus
(see Diagram). From there they
travel to their designated destination inside or outside the cell. His signal
hypothesis has since been shown to apply to yeast, plant and animal cells.
Some observers contrasted the genteel reaction to this year鈥檚 award with the two that
preceded it. In 1997, a few eyebrows were raised at the announcement that
Stanley Prusiner had won for his discovery that novel agents dubbed prions cause
infectious diseases. Some scientists argued that the theory is not yet proven.
Last year there were murmurs of disapproval when British physiologist Salvador
Moncada missed out and three Americans scooped the prize for establishing the
pivotal biochemical role of nitric oxide.
This year there are few complaints. Cell biologist Martin Raff of University
College London says: 鈥淭his has been pioneering work. It鈥檚 been fundamental in
our understanding of how cells are constructed.鈥� Cell biologist Hugh Pelham of
the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge describes Blobel鈥檚 work as a
鈥渢urning point鈥�, though he notes that other researchers have made important
contributions in the field. 鈥淧articularly, you think of C茅sar Milstein,鈥�
he says. Milstein won a Nobel Prize for his work in immunology in 1980.
The physics and chemistry Nobels were announced as 快猫短视频
went to press. For details, see www.newscientist.com