On November 9, the Breakthrough Prize laureates were announced - this prize is the largest scientific award. Scientists have divided 36 million dollars among themselves.
Compared to the Nobel Prize, the Breakthrough Prize is awarded to aspiring scientists. The prize is awarded in three nominations: Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics.
The prize for fundamental physics was shared by scientists who proved the accelerated expansion of the Universe. The research team was led by Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess.
The Life Sciences Prize went to scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier. Researchers have discovered the Crispr / Cas9 mechanism - it protects bacteria from viral attacks. It became known that Crispr / Cas9 makes it possible to rewrite defective human DNA, replacing damaged genes with healthy ones.
Four more specialists were awarded in the same nomination. The prize went to scientists from the United States: David Ellis (C David Allis), Gary Ruvkun (Gary Ruvkun) and Victor Ambros (Victor Ambros). They have been awarded for their research on gene regulation. Also noted was the biologist Alim Louis Benabid, who created the technique of deep brain stimulation, which was a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Each of these scientists received $ 3 million.
The French scientist Maxim Kontsevich became the laureate of the prize in mathematics, who, among other things, made a great contribution to algebraic geometry. He also received awards for Richard Taylor, Simon Donaldson, Jacob Lurie and Terry Tao.
The Breakthrough Prize in 2013 was established by Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner. The initiative was actively supported by Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, and Anne Vozhitsky. The current laureates will be included in a special committee that will have to determine the winners of the 2015 prize.