Agilent Cell Analysis provides novel technology for revolutionary research
In October of 2019, the Nobel Assembly announced the award of the 2019 Nobel Prize jointly to William G. Kaelin, Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza in Physiology or Medicine. This award is to acknowledge their scientific discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
This recent announcement is due cause for celebration for the Agilent Cell Analysis community, and we want to take a moment to shed some light on the significance of this exciting news.
Historically, while the importance of oxygen for sustaining life was understood, mechanisms for cells to sense and adapt to changes in oxygen remained a mystery. By solving the puzzle of how oxygen levels affect cellular processes, these researchers paved the way for a revolution in science focused on the role of oxygen and metabolic pathways to advance therapeutic opportunities across a range of diseases. Several breakthroughs led up to the prestigious award (pre-2001) including oxygen-hypoxia sensing mechanisms and regulation, the discovery of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) complex, and the genes encoding HIF.
Though work contributing to Nobel Prize itself was not based on Seahorse / Agilent Cell Analysis measurements, it relied on earlier, conventional, and relatively laborious methods. The scientific community, including Nobel Laureates William G. Kaelin and Gregg L. Semenza, has since leveraged novel technologies like Seahorse XF for measuring oxygen processes in cells, which has continued to accelerate the pace of discovery in the field. The announcement is a testament to the importance of measuring cellular oxygen in medical science and shows us how valuable and impactful are Agilent’s instrumentation and solutions for advancing science.
