AZUZ: The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for medicine has been awarded to a Japanese biologist. Yoshinori Ohsumi made discoveries in the area of autophagy. That`s the process that a cell uses to recycle some of its own components. Scientists have known about autophagy since the 1960s, but Ohsumi`s work, which included experiments with baker`s yeast led to a deeper understanding of how cells stay healthy.
He`ll receive more than $900,000 in prize money. As advances in medicine are made around the world, there`s a U.S.-based biotechnology company that`s raised record funds, even though its method is so far unproven and hasn`t worked before, and its human trials which could take years are just getting started.
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RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For years, incurable diseases like cancer and HIV have stumped scientists. But if there`s a cure for those diseases right under our noses, literally?
At biotech startup Moderna, they believe the key to treating rare diseases is to trigger the body to heal itself, to make its own medicine. And how does that work? It all comes down to proteins.
STEPHANE BANCEL, CEO, MODERNA: So, sometimes when you`re sick, what you`re just missing is one protein. If we could just give you that protein back, then you`ll be healthier again.
CRANE: So, how do you get that one missing protein back into your body?
For years, we`ve relied on pharmaceutical companies to make expensive protein-based drugs for treatment. But protein based drugs aren`t as effective as they could be and can degrade in the bloodstream or digestive tract.
That`s where Moderna comes in. By injecting your body with messenger RNA molecules, they`ve discovered a way to naturally trigger your body cells into making their own healing proteins. The body makes its own medicine.
In theory, messenger RNA or MRNA could deliver the genetic instructions to your cells to make any type of protein that your body needs to heal itself.
But until recently, scientists believe our immune systems would reject MRNA from outside sources.
BANCEL: Evolution has taught all of our cells to ignore messenger RNA when it comes from the outside. That`s what a virus looks like. What we`ve been able to do at Moderna is actually change the properties of that MRNA so that to the cell, it looks likes its own.
CRANE: And that breakthrough has led to potential treatments for a wide range of conditions, from heart disease to cancer. Over the last four years, Moderna has raised $1.5 billion, partnering with pharmaceutical companies, the government, and recently, the Gates Foundation, who committed $20 million to tackle HIV.
But research is still in its early stages. Moderna recently started their first two human clinical trials and has plans for at least four more.
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参考答案:DABCA