Charles M. Rice
Facts
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Stefan Bladh
Charles M. Rice
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020
Born: 25 August 1952, Sacramento, CA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
Prize motivation: “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
Hepatitis is a group of diseases that cause inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by different viruses that are transmitted through blood. After a previously unknown virus, the hepatitis C virus, had been found in hepatitis patients evidence was needed to demonstrate that this virus was alone in causing hepatitis C. In 1997, Charles Rice and other research teams succeeded with this when they were able to show that a region in the virus’s genome was crucial in causing hepatitis. The finding was an important step in developing blood tests and new medications that have saved millions of lives.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
