UUbiquitin-related research has made the transition from the basic to clinical arena in the past decade, and the field is now central to understanding diseases ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders. So the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation thought it only appropriate that this year's recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research should go to researchers who were instrumental in the inception of the field. Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover, and Alexander Varshavsky.
The foundation (www.laskerfoundation.org) presented the basic research awards in a Sept. 22 ceremony in New York, along with the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research and the Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science. Harvey Alter and Michael Houghton shared the clinical research award for their accomplishments that dramatically reduced the risk of blood transfusion-associated hepatitis in the United States. Sydney Brenner, one of the "founding fathers" of molecular biology, received the ...
