2020 Nobel Prize laureates - Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice, and British-born scientist Michael Houghton - made seminal discoveries that led to the identification of a novel virus, Hepatitis C virus, a major source of liver disease that affects millions worldwide (a major cause of liver cancer).
For the first time in history, the Hepatitis C virus can now be cured. The 2020 Medicine Laureates’ discoveries revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.
