This is what the hepatitis C virus particle looks like. Unlike its “siblings” A and B, there is currently no vaccine against hepatitis C. American scientists Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice share the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with British virologist Michael Houghton. The Nobel Committee’s statement said the prize was awarded for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus – although, strictly speaking, only one of the three new laureates identified the virus. Halter, Rice, and Hutton rarely collaborated. Only one of the seven scientific articles that formed the basis of the fateful discovery was co-authored by two future laureates. Moreover, the name of one of them is not even mentioned in the publication.
Moreover, the lead author of the article, George Kuo, an American scientist of Taiwanese origin, was not among the recipients – even though he is considered by many in the scientific world to be the discoverer of the virus. But the Nobel Committee decided otherwise.
The word “hepatitis” itself is almost as insidious as the group of diseases it covers. To a person without special training, it can easily create the illusion that different types of hepatitis are variations of the same disease. In fact, it is an umbrella term for about a dozen different inflammatory liver diseases with very different origins. Disruption of normal liver function can occur for a variety of reasons, ranging from increased radiation exposure and excessive alcohol consumption to bacterial infections and an aggressive immune response. Most often, hepatitis is of viral origin, and in order to defeat the disease, it is necessary to first identify the infectious agent. In other words, understanding what kind of virus it is: what family it belongs to, how it is transmitted, and so on.
To date, nearly a dozen viruses are known to cause liver damage. Hepatitis C, a close relative of yellow fever, is the most dangerous. It is often called the “silent killer. The infection can develop in the body for years with almost no symptoms: the few symptoms caused by the virus can easily be mistaken for manifestations of other diseases. This makes diagnosis very difficult – until the disease progresses to cancer or cirrhosis of the liver.
In the 1940s, scientists discovered that at least two types of viruses cause liver disease. One – hepatitis A – is transmitted through food or water and usually does not cause long-term health problems in patients. The disease it causes is sometimes called Botkin’s disease, and colloquially – jaundice. Another (type) – hepatitis B – is transmitted through blood or other biological fluids. It poses a much greater threat because the disease often progresses to a chronic form, gradually worsening the patient’s condition. The American Baruch Blumberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1967 for the discovery of this virus. However, the “gentle killer” was able to hide from its pursuers for quite some time.
Harvey Olters was the first to track down the elusive virus. First, Harvey Walter was attacked by Epstein, who discovered that hepatitis was often transmitted through blood transfusions, despite the fact that donor tests at the time showed the absence of both known viruses. Olter transfused the same blood into a chimpanzee, and the monkeys also developed hepatitis. The scientist concluded that the disease was caused by an unknown third pathogen – most likely viral in nature. The strange hepatitis was dubbed “neither A nor B”. Scientists actively searched for the causative agent of the mysterious disease, but all their efforts were in vain. Only after more than 10 years did Michael Hutton succeed in collecting a collection of DNA fragments from nucleic acids found in the blood of infected chimpanzees.
Michael Houghton has collected a collection of DNA fragments from nucleic acids found in the blood of infected chimpanzees. Most of them, of course, come from the monkeys’ own genomes. However, scientists have identified several suspicious fragments that may belong to an unknown virus. The biologists began to think. After all, the bodies of people infected with hepatitis almost certainly try to fight off the mysterious infection – which means that patients must have antibodies against it. The research continued, although the painstaking work of the scientists was somewhat reminiscent of looking for a black cat in a dark room. Hundreds and thousands of proteins from the analysis of infected patients had to be compared with each of the cloned DNA fragments isolated from the blood of infected monkeys. An immunoglobulin was found in the blood of infected people that resembled one of the proteins of an unknown virus – a relative of yellow fever. Now all that remained was to prove that this was the same virus that was being sought – undetectable by tests, but at the same time being transmitted through blood transfusions and causing liver disease in humans. This was the task of Charles Rice, a researcher at Washington University. He divided the virus genome into segments, some of which he thought might interfere with the replication process.
Thanks to Charles Rice’s efforts, the nature of the mysterious disease was finally proven. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of episodes should remain: episodes. The end of the story: Podcast Advertising Rice then created a “viral Frankenstein” in the lab – a greatly simplified version of the same RNA chain, containing only the fragments that he thought should replicate in primate organisms. Scientists introduced a new virus into a chimpanzee’s liver – and soon, as expected, the virus was detected in its blood, and the animal developed symptoms of chronic hepatitis. The nature of the mysterious disease was finally understood, and antiviral drugs were soon developed. Over the past 20 years, the hepatitis C virus has become less of a deadly threat. Currently, up to 95% of infections can be cured. As the Nobel Committee noted, the day is not far off when the threat of hepatitis C will be completely eradicated. And humanity owes it to the work of Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles Rice. Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Americans William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and Briton Peter Ratcliffe for their work on how human cells respond to decreases in oxygen levels in the body. On Tuesday, the Nobel Committee in Stockholm will announce the laureates in Physics, on Wednesday in Chemistry, on Thursday in Literature, and on the following Monday, October 12, in Economics. The winner of the Peace Prize will be announced on Friday. The winner of the Nobel Prize is traditionally announced in Oslo (the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm).