How is the human immune system able to produce ten billion different antibodies to fight off disease when there are only blueprints for only 20,000 proteins stored in the entire genome?
The American immunologists Frederick Alt and David Schatz have given an answer to this question.
For this they will be honored with the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2023.
The award is endowed with 120,000 euros and will be presented on March 14, Paul Ehrlich's birthday, in the Paulskirche.
A tamed parasite
As the Paul Ehrlich Foundation announced on Tuesday, Alt and Schatz have made a key contribution to explaining the mechanism by which the genetic information for a wide variety of antibodies is assembled.
Schatz discovered an enzyme called RAG1/2 that plays a crucial role in this process.
The gene that enables its formation was originally a DNA parasite - its "taming" was a prerequisite for the emergence of the adaptive immune system.
Alt, in turn, identified the enzymes that complete the reassembly of genetic information initiated by RAG1/2 by repairing DNA.
Alt, 73 years old, is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
His 64-year-old colleague, Schatz, holds a chair at Yale University.