The prize, which included a $22,000 award shared by the two scientists, was presented by Columbia's president, George Rupp, on January 19 in New York. Established in 1967 to honor research in biology or biochemistry, the Horwitz Prize is seen as a strong predictor for the Nobel Prize--29 of 53 recipients later received the Nobel.
In the early 1980s, Kappler and Marrack were one of three research teams to first describe the T-cell receptor and how it recognizes antigen in the body. Then, in 1987, they discovered how T cells that target the body's own tissues are identified and destroyed (J.W. Kappler, et al., Cell, 49:273-80, 1987). Without such a mechanism--or when this process malfunctions-- destructive autoimmune diseases of various kinds can result. Through November 1994, the Cell paper had been cited 1,210 times by fellow scientists in other publications.
"The cells of the immune system randomly generate receptors that ...
