The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Americans Mary E. Brancow, Fred Ramsdell, and Japanese scientist Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries in the field of peripheral immune tolerance."
They identified the "guardians" of the immune system, regulatory T cells, thereby laying the foundation for a new area of research, according to a press release from the Nobel Committee.
These discoveries have also led to the development of potential treatments that are currently undergoing clinical trials.
Scientists hope that they will allow for the treatment or cure of autoimmune diseases, provide more effective cancer treatment, and prevent serious complications after stem cell transplantation.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional regulation of genes.
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