“This was awarded jointly to
Harvey J. Alter,
Michael Houghton and
Charles M. Rice
“for discovery of Hepatitis C virus”
Harvey J. Alter
The methodical studies of transfusion-associated hepatitis by Harvey J. Alter working at US National Institutes of Health demonstrated that an unknown virus was a common cause of chronic hepatitis. Alter and his colleagues showed that blood from hepatitis patients(who had developed hepatis following blood transfusion) could transmit the disease to chimpanzees, the only susceptible host besides humans. Subsequent studies also demonstrated that the unknown infectious agent had the characteristics of a virus. Alter’s methodical investigations had in this way defined a new, distinct form of chronic viral hepatitis. The mysterious illness became known as “non-A, non-B” hepatitis.
Michael Houghton
Identification of the novel virus was now a high priority. Michael Houghton, working for the pharmaceutical firm Chiron, undertook the arduous work needed to isolate the genetic sequence of the virus. Houghton and his co-workers created a collection of DNA fragments from nucleic acids found in the blood of an infected chimpanzee. Michael Houghton used an untested strategy to isolate the genome of the new virus that was named Hepatitis C virus(Novel RNA virus belonging to flavivirus family).
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