Michael Houghton

Facts

Michael Houghton

© University of Alberta. Photo: Michael Holly

Michael Houghton
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020

Born: 1949, United Kingdom

Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Prize motivation: “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”

Prize share: 1/3

Work

Hepatitis is a group of diseases that cause inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by different viruses that are transmitted through blood. After Harvey Alter had demonstrated that a previously unknown virus transmitted the disease, Michael Houghton and his colleagues were able to isolate the virus’s genome in 1989. The virus turned out to be an RNA virus from the Flavivirus family and was given the name the hepatitis C virus. The finding was an important step in developing blood tests and new medications that have saved millions of lives.

To cite this section
MLA style: Michael Houghton – Facts – 2020. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Wed. 11 Dec 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2020/houghton/facts/>

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