Biochemistry was the first of the winners to arrive in Oviedo
Surprised by the reception and expectation that her arrival generated in the surroundings of the Reconquista hotel in Oviedo, Bonnie L. BasslerPrincess of Asturias Prize for Scientific and Technical Research, was the first of the winners to arrive in Oviedo with her husband Todd Reichart.
Next to E. Peter Greenberg is one of the pioneers in the study of communication between bacteria through the emission of certain substances, and how the formation of large groups generates a different behavior than when they are isolated. This is what is called quorum sensing (a term coined by Greenberg in a 1994 scientific article). “I hope people understand how magical and important bacteria are.“, he explained after posing before the press. The third winner in this edition of the awards is Jeffrey Gordon, who will not attend the ceremony due to the recent death of his wife. He has been a pioneer in the study of the human microbiome, the set of microorganisms that inhabit our intestine (tens of billions: several times more than the total number of our own cells) and its influence on human healthnot only in nutrition, digestion and metabolism (diabetes, obesity, malnutrition) but also in the neurological and immune development of children and young people.