1st Post: The Nobel Prize Goes Viral In 69
SAMPLE POST!!!
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1969 (Max Delbruck, Alfred Hershey, Salvador Luria) “Replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses”
The process of replication remained, for the most part, a mystery until the mid 1900s. However, Nobel Prize recipients Delbruck, Hershey and Luria were able to unveil this mystery. Not only did the team shed light on replication, using bacteriophages (a virus that makes the most out of bacteria as a host) the three were able to uncover the mysteries of the virus’ life cycle and explore genetic recombination. Each of the three scientists attacked the problem from three different angles thus giving the team a seemly all encompassing strategy. Delbruck was a physicist who transformed the research surrounding the bacteriophage into an exact science . It was he who defined the conditions necessary for the precise measurement of the biological effects. Alongside the physician, Luria, the two were able to develop specific criteria for evaluation. What that meant was those two together did some fancy math and set up strict experimental guidelines (they made it sciency enough to be considered scientific) This criteria made it possible for Heshey, a biochemist, to conduct his experiments with success.
The combined effort of the three researchers above led to not only the mapping of the entire bacteriophage life cycle, but also a detailed study of each of the phases of replication. The researchers found out more about viruses than anyone else at the time.
They was able to discern that the protein shell contained an enzyme that ‘erodes’ the host cell wall and makes it possible for the foreign nucleic acid to enter the host cell. Then they discovered that the bacteriophage was able to switch off the regulating center of the host cell while keeping the other machinery functional. As a result the virus was able to hijack the host cell and ‘reprogram’ it to create new bacteriophage particles. Further analysis of this phenomena led the researchers to more discoveries in genetic structure due to the observed recombination process.
So, What does this look like?
***Although not considered entirely accurate by some experts that video was sweet***
It is my belief that the 1969 Nobel Prize recipients are without a doubt worthy of the prize. As a result of their efforts several fields in biology have been able to evolve. The same principles that are responsible for the regulation of replication were shown to be strikingly similar from virus to micro-organism all the way up to the most complex organisms. In addition, their findings have given medicine more tools to combat the viruses that make a host out of our own cells. Delbruck, Hershey and Luria can be viewed as the founders of modern molecular biology. Without their advancements, molecular biologists would remain years behind where they are today.
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