2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Yoshinori Ohsumi

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”.

Yoshinori Ohsumi
Born: 1945, Fukuoka, Japan
Affiliation at the time of the award: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Prize motivation: “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”

“Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms and Physiological Significance of Autophagy, a Cellular Adaptive System to Environment”

Professor Ohsumi has achieved world-leading results in his genetic study of autophagy in yeast, a cellular process that degrades proteins in order to adapt to the nutritional environment and other factors.

He has made groundbreaking contributions toward elucidating of the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its physiological significance.