Immune system breakthrough wins Medicine Nobel for US-Japan trio

Three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries on how the immune system self-regulates, which have led to potential therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

- CHARLES DALY

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi will share the 11 million-krona ($1.2 million) award, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said in a statement Monday. Brunkow and Ramsdell are based in the US, while Sakaguchi hails from Japan.

The scientists’ work laid the foundation for anew field of research and potential treatments by identifying “the immune system’s security guards” that prevent the body from harming itself, the Nobel Committee said.

‘The work took place over several decades. Sakaguchi paved the way with his discovery of a new class of T cells — the white blood cells that play a crucial role in our defenses. These regulatory T cells help turn the immune response down after it eliminates an invader and prevent other T cells from attacking healthy ones.