John E. Sulston

Facts

John E. Sulston

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

John E. Sulston
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002

Born: 27 March 1942, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Died: 6 March 2018, Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Affiliation at the time of the award: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'”

Prize share: 1/3

Work

At the beginning of an organism's life, the number of cells it contains increases rapidly. New cells are formed throughout its lifetime, but cells also die in order to maintain a balance in the number of cells in existence. This process is regulated by genes and is called programmed cell death. In 1976, John Sulston described in detail how the cells of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans divided and matured, and showed that certain cells' deaths were a part of the organism's normal development. He also discovered that the first mutation in a gene that is active in the cell-death process.

To cite this section
MLA style: John E. Sulston – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2002/sulston/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.