British, American hypoxia researchers win Nobel Prize in Medicine

We all know that oxygen is necessary to sustain life, but how exactly human body cells adapt to an increase or decrease in oxygen levels has long been a mystery.

It is one of the most essential adaptive processes of life, one that allows humanity to survive in different conditions, be it plains or the highest regions on Earth.

The question was answered when Kaelin and Semenza, from Harvard and Johns Hopkins University, and Ratcliffe from London's Francis Crick Institute started working and identified the molecular mechanism regulating the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen in the body.

Their work helped scientists understand the effect of oxygen on physiological function as well as develop ways to tackle critical diseases.

Notably, the identified molecular mechanism by which cells adapt to oxygen levels is relevant to not just problems like cancer and anemia but also common issues like wound-healing or pregnancy.

In fact, according to The Guardian, this machinery is one of the key reasons for how animals managed to survive so many habitats, even those at different altitudes.

The Nobel is awarded to recognize scientists making important discoveries for the benefit of humankind.

It is given by a committee of 50 professors at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden across categories ranging from Medicine to Physics.

To note, the awards for work done in Chemistry, Physics, Literature would be announced later this week.