New Delhi: Chemists Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman from the Cambridge University have been declared the winners of the 2020 Millennium Technology Prize on Tuesday.
It is a prestigious international science and know-how prize award which they received for his or her improvement of revolutionary sequencing strategies which suggests DNA can now be learn in super-fast instances.Â
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“This is the first time we’ve received an international prize that recognises our contribution to developing the technology – but it’s not just for us, it’s for the whole team that played a key role in the development of the technology and for all those that have inspired us on our journey,” the profitable scientists mentioned in a joint assertion.
Balasubramanian, an India-born British professor of medicinal chemistry, and Klenerman, a British biophysical chemist, co-invented the Solexa-Illumina Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS), know-how enabling quick, correct, low-cost and large-scale genome sequencing – the method of figuring out the whole DNA sequence of an organism”s make-up, which is proving essential in humanity’s combat towards the COVID-19 pandemic. The duo went on to co-found the corporate Solexa to make the know-how extra broadly obtainable to the world.
In a digital ceremony, President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinisto, who’s the Patron of the prize, offered the award to the scientists on Tuesday. The 2020 announcement was delayed due to the Covid-19 panedemic.
The Millennium Technology Prize value Euro 1 million is awarded by Technology Academy Finland (TAF) at two-year intervals. It started in 2004 Tim Berners-Lee was first to be honoured for his discovery of the World Wide Web.
Professor Marja Makarow, Chair of Technology Academy Finland mentioned, “Collaboration is an essential part of ensuring positive change for the future. Next Generation Sequencing is the perfect example of what can be achieved through teamwork and individuals from different scientific backgrounds coming together to solve a problem.”
“The technology pioneered by Professor Balasubramanian and Professor Klenerman has also played a key role in helping discover the coronavirus”s sequence, which in turn enabled the creation of the vaccines – itself a triumph for cross-border collaboration – and helped identify new variants of COVID-19,” Makarow mentioned.
Though the International Selection Committee identified that it had made its resolution in February 2020, earlier than the worldwide unfold of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(With company inputs)
