NIH grantees win 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry

Prize awarded for mapping, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work on DNA repair "has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions".

Thousands of spontaneous changes to a cell's genome occur on a daily basis while radiation, free radicals and carcinogenic substances can also damage DNA. To keep the information in the genetic instruction book from degrading, a range of molecular systems monitor and repair DNA, in processes that the three award-winning scientists all helped map out.

"This basic understanding about cell function has led to the discovery of the causes of genetic conditions associated with cancer, and is being used to develop new cancer treatments,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins. "NIH is proud to have supported this work."