Charles M. Rice facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles M. Rice
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Rice at 2024 Nobel Week
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Charles Moen Rice
August 25, 1952 Sacramento, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of California, Davis (BS) California Institute of Technology (MS, PhD) |
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| Thesis | Studies on the Structural Proteins of Sindbis Virus (1981) |
| Doctoral advisor | James Strauss |
Charles Moen Rice (born August 25, 1952) is an American scientist. He studies viruses, which are tiny germs that can make people sick. His most important work was on the hepatitis C virus. This virus can cause serious liver problems.
Charles Rice is a professor at Rockefeller University in New York City. He also teaches at Cornell University and Washington University School of Medicine. In 2020, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He shared this big award with two other scientists, Michael Houghton and Harvey J. Alter. They won for finding the Hepatitis C virus.
Contents
Charles M. Rice: Early Life and Learning
Charles Moen Rice was born on August 25, 1952. His hometown is Sacramento, California.
He loved learning about animals. In 1974, he earned a science degree in zoology. This was from the University of California, Davis. Later, in 1981, he got his PhD. This is a very high university degree. He studied biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. There, he learned about RNA viruses. These are a special type of virus. He continued his research there for four more years.
Charles M. Rice's Career Journey
After his studies, Charles Rice moved his research group. In 1986, they went to the Washington University School of Medicine. He worked there until 2001.
Since 2001, he has been a special professor at Rockefeller University. He also helps teach at other universities. These include Washington University School of Medicine and Cornell University. He has also helped important groups. These include the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.
He has also helped edit science magazines. These include Journal of Experimental Medicine and Journal of Virology. He has written over 400 science papers. These papers share his discoveries with other scientists.
How Did He Discover the Hepatitis C Virus?
While at Caltech, Charles Rice studied the Sindbis virus. He helped show that flaviviruses are their own virus family. The type of yellow fever virus he used helped create the yellow fever vaccine.
In 1989, he made a big discovery. He found a way to grow infectious flavivirus RNA in his lab. This was a very important step. Another scientist, Stephen Feinstone, saw his work. Feinstone was studying hepatitis C virus. He thought Rice's method could help find a vaccine for hepatitis C.
In 1997, Rice made the first infectious copy of the hepatitis C virus. He used this copy to study the virus in chimpanzees. In 2005, his team made another breakthrough. They found a way to make a human strain of the virus grow in the lab. Charles Rice's work greatly helped us understand hepatitis C. This led to new medicines to treat the disease.
Awards and Honors
Charles Rice has received many awards for his important work.
- 1986 Pew Charitable Trust scholarship
- 2004 Elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2005 Elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2005 Elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology
- 2007 M.W. Beijerinck Virology Prize
- 2015 Robert Koch Prize
- 2016 Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize
- 2016 Lasker Award
- 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
See also
In Spanish: Charles M. Rice para niños
