By: iPadfanzz staff on February 21, 2013
Google and Facebook founders and their spouses have announced a new multi-million-dollar prize for scientists who are working to cure the world's most devastating diseases. The prize money would be $15 million which would be double than the value of the Noble prize.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki were asked to create the award by venture capitalist Yuri Milner, who modelled the prize on a physics award he set up last year.
As per the reports, five scientists will be given three million dollars for 'recognizing excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life."
Notwithstanding the long standing rivalry between Google and Facebook, the board of directors will be made up of Zuckerberg and Chan, Brin and Wojcicki.
Zuckerberg said the new prize platform will be has the potential to provide a platform for other models and that will also promote a better future by curing diseases like cancer.
The board for the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences will be headed by Apple chairman Art Levinson.
Milner said the names of first thirteen people for the year 2013 have already bee announced and hopefully, it will convey the right message to the people.
In future there will be an annual amount of $15million set aside for winners of the prize, which seeks to reward research aimed at extending human life.
The 2013 winners are:
Eric S Lander: His creation of maps of the human genome earned him one of the first ever prizes.
Lewis C Cantley: He discovered the PI 3-Kinase and its role in cancer metabolism.
Shinya Yamanaka: He performed important research into adult stem cells.
Robert A Weinberg: His work on the characterisation of cancer genes was honoured.
Cornelia I Bargmann: Her reserach on genetics of neural circuits and behaviour, and synaptic guidepost molecules.
Titia de Lange: Her research on the role of telomeres in genome instability in cancer won her the award.
Charles S Sawyers: He was praised for his work on cancer genes and targeted therapy.
Hans Clevers: He was honoured for describing the role of Wnt signalling in tissue stem cells and cancer.
Napoleone Ferrara: Honoured for discoveries of mechanisms of angiogenesis that led to therapies for cancer and eye diseases.
Bert Vogelstein: He was praised for his work on cancer genomics and tumor surpressor genes.
