Geneticist Kim Nasmyth with Mila Kunis and Ashton KutcherGETTY IMAGES, JESSE GRANT
A total of $22 million was awarded to researchers in math, physics, and the life sciences at the sixth annual Breakthrough Prize ceremony on Sunday (December 3). The largest group of researchers being recognized was a multi-institution team of 27 physicists who helped map radiation emitted just after the big bang around than 13.8 billion years ago.
Winners of the five $3 million life sciences prizes included University of Oxford geneticist Kim Nasmyth, whose work on yeast revealed proteins involved in cell regulation; Don Cleveland of the University of California, San Diego, who helped develop gene-silencing technology; and Joanne Chory of the Salk Institute in San Diego, for her work on plants’ genetic responses to being shaded by their neighbors.
“I’m truly honored to receive ...
