Multiple choice

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for which of the following?

  1. For discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system

  2. For discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA

  3. For the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase

  4. For discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells

  5. For the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The winners won for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer. The trio solved the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.