Profile of William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe, and Greg Semenza, 2016 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Awardees

Abstract

Fire in the air, fire in the cell Toward the end of the 18th century, the Swedish apothecary, Carl Scheele, determined that approximately one-fourth of the volume of air was “feuer luft,” or “fire air”: that is, the component of the atmosphere that allows substances to burn. At almost the same time the English theologian and philosopher, Joseph Priestley, found a method to purify this gas; and in both cases, determination and an ingenious use of tools and techniques enabled them to determine that a specific aspect of the air around us is absolutely required for combustion. After a fortuitous meeting with Priestley, the French aristocrat, politician, and scientist, Antoine Lavoisier, was able to replicate Priestley’s method of purification, and gave the resulting substance the name of oxygen. Both Priestley and Lavoisier later saw their laboratories destroyed by mobs; Lavoisier was executed soon after and Priestley fled to America. Scientists were then, as now, not immune to conflagrations of ignorance. However, although their laboratories burned, the resulting work and the gas remain central to our understanding of life. In September, the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award was given to three successors to the legacies of Scheele, Priestley, and Lavoisier: two Americans, Gregg Semenza and William Kaelin, Jr., and Sir Peter Ratcliffe of the United Kingdom (Fig. 1). These researchers were recognized for their discovery of how animal cells adapt to variations in oxygen tension. Fig. 1. The 2016 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award honored William G. Kaelin, Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza (shown in order) for their discovery of the cellular mechanisms for oxygen sensing in animals. Images courtesy of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Although oxygen is a necessary factor in cellular respiration, it has been known … [↵][1]1Email: rsj33{at}cam.ac.uk. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1