- Published: June 13, 2022
- Updated: June 13, 2022
- Level: College Admission
- Language: English
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Herald zur Hausen Nobel Prize Winner Harald zur Hausen is a German native born in Gelsenkirchen on 11 March 1936. He studied in the universities of Bonn, Hamburg and got his doctor of medicine degree in 1960 from Dsseldorf University. After getting the degree he turned into medical assistant. Following two years he got associated with the department of microbiology at Dsseldorf University as an assistant, after three years he went to Philadelphia and worked at the virus laboratories with well-known virologists Werner and Gertrude Henle. At the University of Pennsylvania he became an assistant professor. In 1969, he became a regular teaching and researching professor at the University of Wurzburg, and worked at the Institute for Virology. In 1972, he joined the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 1977, he moved on to the University of Freiburg as the head of the department of virology and hygiene. (nobelprize. org)
Harald zur Hausen has been honored with Nobel Prize for discovering HPV vaccine. The specific field of Harald Zur Hausen of research is the erudition of oncoviruses. In 1976, he published the hypothesis that human papilloma virus plays a significant role in the cause of cervical cancer. Mutually with his coworkers, he identified HPV16 and HPV18 in cervical cancers in 1983-4. This research directly made possible the development of a vaccine which was launched in 2006. He is also attributed with discovery of the virus causing genital warts (HPV 6) and a monkey lymphotropic polyomavirus that is a close relative to a newly discovered human Merkel cell polyomavirus, as well as methods to immortalize cells with Epstein-Barr virus and to persuade replication of the virus using phorbol esters. His work on papillomaviruses and cervical cancer received an immense deal of scientific censure on initial presentation but afterward was confirmed and extended to other high-risk papilloma viruses. (The Gairdner Foundation)
He made HPV16 and HPV18 available to the scientific society. Vaccines were eventually developed that provide greater than 95 % protection or even more from infection by the high risk HPV16 and HPV18 types. The need for surgery and the worldwide burden of cervical cancer can be reduced by the vaccine. The vaccine Gardasil is suggested for girls and women between the age of 11 and 26. It protects against cancer and genital warts which is the most frequently transmitted disease through sex. The vaccine is costly but its widespread would save more in health expenses. After the government introduces a catch-up crusade the vaccine would be easily available like all other vaccines in routine, but it should be given to the girls before they first have sex. But the benefits of Gardasil could be made dull by a multifarious distil of practical, financial and religious consideration. On the practical side, Gardasil is supposed to be given as three shots over six months. While pediatricians and government health agencies have long been successful in having parents stick to complex vaccination program for infants because older children are more intricate to handle. (nytimes)
Sources:
1. The New York Times. 30th June 2006. 20th October, 2008.
2. Nobleprize. org 6th October 2008. Nobel Web AB 2008. 20th October, 2008.
3. The Gairdner Foundation. n. d. igloo powered, 20th October 2008.