Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies of the United States and Martin Evans of Britain won the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for their work in creating ”knockout mice”, the 21st-century testbed for biomedical research. The trio were honoured for discovering how to manipulate genetically mouse embryonic stem cells.
Roger Kornberg of the United States won the Nobel Chemistry Prize on Wednesday for work on a key process of life called genetic transcription. Kornberg (59) received the distinction ”for his fundamental studies concerning how the information stored in the genes is copied, then transferred to those parts of the cells that produce proteins”.
Two young United States scientists, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, on Monday won the Nobel Medicine Prize for discovering how to silence malfunctioning genes, a breakthrough which could lead to an era of new therapies to reverse crippling disease.
A record number of women are expected to take part in Sweden’s annual moose hunt when it opens next week, with women now making up a quarter of those passing hunting exams, officials say. Hunting is a hugely popular national pastime in Sweden, in particular the moose hunt, and is as much a part of life for the country’s working class as it is for the rich.