“The merchant of death is dead. Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”
— Obituary of Dr. Alfred Nobel mistakenly published by a French newspaper
Dr. Alfred Nobel was a famous Swedish inventor and businessman. Though he invented many things, dynamite is his most famous invention. He and his brother, Ludvig, became rich through their inventions and an oil company they owned. In 1888, Ludvig died and a French newspaper published Alfred’s obituary by mistake.
Concerned about his legacy after his death, Alfred in his will gifted bulk of his wealth to institute Nobel Prize for excellence in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and general peace.
In this newsletter, we will briefly explore the science behind the Nobel prize winning theories.
Weekly Quiz # 02
This is radar used to predict weather. Identify it. Please leave your answer in the comments below
Answer to last week’s quiz:
Black Hole
Answered by Lucky, Shyam Sail & Nayan Gadre
Nobel Prize for Medicine - Hunting Hepatitis C virus
What is Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis = hepa (liver) + titis (inflammation).
It is a liver disease caused by a type of Hepacivirus. It is a blood borne disease and the primary modes of infection are injection drug use, blood transfusion, unsafe medical procedures, tattooing and some times via sharing personal items that may have been contaminated with blood.
What did the Nobel Laureates do?
Harvey J Alter and Michael Houghton led the efforts independently in 1970s to identify the strain of virus.
Charles M Rice brought the science forward by pioneering the methodology that allowed the testing and development of drugs.
Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2020/summary/
Nobel Prize for Physics - Black Holes
What is a black hole?
When a very big star runs out of fuel and loses its energy, it collapses under its own gravity resulting in sucking in particles all around. At some certain point, the collapsing star becomes so massive that gravity pull is so high that even light cannot pass through.
What did the Nobel laureates do?
Einstein believed that black holes cannot exist. Ironically, Roger Penrose proved that black holes are inevitable consequence of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez analyzed the center of our Milky Way Galaxy and discovered a super massive compact object at the center of the galaxy which can only be a black hole
Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2020/summary/
Nobel Prize for Chemistry - CRISPR Cas9
What is CRISPR/Cas9 and what did the Nobel laureates do?
A genome is a ‘code for life’. It determines certain traits of person or a living thing which are inherited from the parents. The genome containing the genes was generally considered non-alterable.
Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna discovered a way to edit the genome by allowing a gene to removed or modified.
Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/
What is the use of CRISPR/Cas9?
CRISPR/Cas9 is one of the most important discoveries in modern science. The potential benefits are tremendous. Imagine editing plant genomes to make them drought resistant plant varieties to boost food production. Imagine editing the genomes of livestock for sustainable meat production. Imagine editing human genomes to make us disease resistant.
The disadvantage is that genomes in human beings can be edited to make ‘designer babies’. Parents can decide what ‘type’ of babies they want. Scientists are divided over this ethical decision.
For those looking for the abbreviation, CRISPR - Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and Cas9 - CRISPR associated protein 9.
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— Team Planet Eureka
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