The 2016 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to a Japanese biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, who made discoveries in the area of autophagy.
play_circle
pause_circle
That's the process that a cell uses to recycle some of its own components.
play_circle
pause_circle
Scientists have known about autophagy since the 1960s, but Ohsumi's work, which included experiments with baker's yeast, led to a deeper understanding of how cells stay healthy.
play_circle
pause_circle
He'll receive more than $900,000 in prize money.
play_circle
pause_circle
As advances in medicine are made around the world, there's a US-based biotechnology company that's raised record funds even though its method is so far unproven and hasn't worked before, and its human trials, which could take years, are just getting started.
play_circle
pause_circle
For years Incurable diseases like cancer and HIV have stumped scientists, but what if there was a cure for those diseases right under our noses? Literally!
play_circle
pause_circle
At biotech startup Moderne, they believe the key to treating rare diseases is to trigger the body to heal itself, to make its own medicine.
play_circle
pause_circle
And how does that work? It all comes down to proteins.
play_circle
pause_circle
So sometimes when you're sick, what you're just missing is one protein that if we could just give you that protein back, then you'll be healthy again.
play_circle
pause_circle
So how do you get that one missing protein back into your body?
play_circle
pause_circle
For years, we’ve relied on pharmaceutical companies to make expensive protein-based drugs for treatment, but protein-based drugs aren't as effective as they could be and can degrade in the bloodstream or digestive tract.
play_circle
pause_circle
That's where Moderna comes in by injecting your body with messenger RNA molecules.
play_circle
pause_circle
They've discovered a way to naturally trigger your body cells into making their own healing proteins.
play_circle
pause_circle
The body makes its own medicine.
play_circle
pause_circle
In theory, messenger RNA, or mRNA, could deliver the genetic instructions to yourself to make any type of protein that your body needs to heal itself, but until recently, scientists believed our immune systems would reject mRNA from outside sources.
play_circle
pause_circle
Evolution has taught all of our cells to ignore messenger RNA when it comes from the outside.That's what a virus looks like.
play_circle
pause_circle
What we've been able to do at Moderna is actually change the properties of that mRNA so that to the cell, it looks like its own.
play_circle
pause_circle
And that breakthrough has led to potential treatments for a wide range of conditions, from heart disease to cancer.
play_circle
pause_circle
Over the last four years, Moderna has raised $1 billion, partnering with pharmaceutical companies, the government, and recently the Gates Foundation, who committed $100 million to tackle HIV, but research is still in its early stages.
play_circle
pause_circle
Madonna recently started their first human clinical trials and has plans for at least four more.
