AAAS member awarded Nobel Prize for medical discovery

Charles Rice, a member of the American Association for Advancement of Science, which released a press release, has received a Nobel Prize for the role that he played in discovering Hepatitis C. 

Receiving the award along with Rice are two other colleagues. Hepatitis C is a serious disease that led to liver disease in the 70s and 80s. Charles M Rice and his colleagues developed a screening system to identify Hepatitis C and prevent it from making its way into blood stores that would be used for transfusions. 

In addition to this enormous contribution that they made to Hepatitis C and liver disease prevention, Rice and his colleagues also developed a cure for Hepatitis C that is effective in more than 95% of patients. 

“Prior to their work, the discovery of the Hepatitis A and B viruses had been critical steps forward, but the majority of blood-borne hepatitis cases remained unexplained. The discovery of Hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives," Rice said in the press release.

Rice and his colleagues contributed more knowledge in the fight against Hepatitis C than perhaps any other scientist or group to date.