"We were young when we made our discoveries," says a 2019 Nobel

Washington (AFP)

"The problem of the Nobel Prize is that it is always given to older scientists, which gives the impression to people that the research is made by old," says AFP one of three Nobel Prize winners 2019 of medicine, the American Gregg Semenza. "But that's not the case, we were young when we made our discoveries."

Gregg Semenza, 63, is director of the Vascular Research Program at Johns Hopkins American University in Baltimore. He was 39 when he published the discovery that earned him his reward ... A discovery that has developed a whole field of research on how the body's cells use oxygen.

"You only have to hold your breath to realize that you can not do without oxygen for a very long time," the researcher said on the phone a few hours after the announcement made in Stockholm that he now belonged to the club of Nobel scientists.

"Every cell in your body needs oxygen continuously," he continues. "Billions and billions of cells work and receive exactly the right amount of oxygen, and the system we discovered is the molecular mechanism of all of this."

He and his colleagues did not imagine then that the discovery would have as many applications against cancer, cardiovascular diseases or other pathologies.

One of the most practical applications is people with chronic kidney disease, who are now treated with EPO injections, which is relatively heavy and expensive, says the researcher. Four clinical trials are underway, with 25,000 participants, on a simple pill that would replace these injections. These pills would "turn on" the system discovered in 1995.

Trained as a doctor and a researcher, he stresses that he has always set himself the goal of "building bridges between the two worlds" and "translating scientific discoveries into new therapies".

At the same time, he admits that "something so fundamental would have been discovered sooner or later" by other researchers. Maybe it was played at a year or two, he philosophizes.

Professor Semenza subscribes to a part of criticism against the Nobel Prize, which distinguishes a handful of scientists by potentially ignoring others who have also contributed in a major way.

"As soon as you choose a few people, it's an arbitrary decision," he says.

On the other hand, "the advantage is that it highlights the science, because people do not hear much about science in general, especially in the United States".

On the question of the advanced age of the recipients, he insists that it is the young researchers who make the big discoveries. He notes that in his laboratory, he employs a dozen researchers including students, doctoral students and post-docs, who collectively publish between five and ten scientific articles per year.

What will the Nobel Prize change in his life as a researcher? "It can not hurt, that's for sure," he replies euphemistically. No doubt the journals will look at articles coming from his laboratory more closely. This "validates the field" of research with people who did not understand the importance.

The prize helps people "to understand that basic research can lead to new treatments for diseases, and that is why basic research must be funded."

"The discovery of many innovative therapies comes from unexpected turning points in projects that were originally very basic research."

© 2019 AFP