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UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 08th April 2025

Home / UPSC / Current Affairs / ‘Oscars of Science’- Breakthrough Prize 2025 Awarded

‘Oscars of Science’- Breakthrough Prize 2025 Awarded

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The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to 13,508 physicists across four collaborative projects at CERN

‘Oscars of Science’- Breakthrough Prize 2025 Awarded

Introduction

  • The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics has recognised 13,508 physicists from four collaborative projects at CERN.
  • This prestigious award, often referred to as the Oscars of Science, was announced on April 5, 2025. It marks advancements in life sciences, mathematics, and fundamental physics.

About Breakthrough Prizes

  • The Breakthrough Prize was set up in 2013. Its founders include Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, and Yuri and Julia Milner.
  • The awards celebrate scientific achievements and inspire future generations. They promote a vision of science for the benefit of all as a global and apolitical initiative.

Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

  • Three groups of scientists received this award. First, five scientists developed weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, through their research on the GLP-1 hormone. Daniel J. Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst, Lotte Bjerre Knudsen and Svetlana Mojsov share the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
  • Second, Alberto Ascherio and Stephen L. Hauser were recognised for their work on Multiple Sclerosis, identifying B-cells’ role and linking Epstein-Barr virus to the disease.
  • Third, David R Liu was awarded for his innovations in gene-editing technologies, particularly base and prime editing, allowing precise DNA modifications.

GLP-1 Hormone

  • Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone secreted by the intestines in response to food intake.
  • It plays a key role in regulating blood sugar by stimulating insulin release, inhibiting glucagon secretion, and slowing gastric emptying.
  • GLP-1 also promotes a feeling of fullness, making it important in weight management and the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
  • Synthetic GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide and liraglutide, have become prominent in medical therapies due to their effectiveness in lowering blood glucose and aiding weight loss.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

  • Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective myelin sheath covering nerve fibers in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
  • This leads to disrupted nerve signals, causing symptoms like muscle weakness, vision problems, fatigue, and difficulty with coordination.
  • The disease progresses in different forms, including relapsing-remitting and progressive types.
  • Though MS has no cure, treatments such as immunomodulators, physiotherapy, and disease-modifying drugs can slow its progression and manage symptoms effectively.

Gene Editing

  • Gene editing refers to technologies that enable scientists to alter DNA sequences within living organisms.
  • The most widely known method is CRISPR-Cas9, which allows for precise, targeted changes to the genome by cutting and repairing DNA.
  • Gene editing holds immense promise for treating genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia, certain cancers, and inherited blindness.
  • While it offers revolutionary possibilities in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology, ethical concerns—especially around germline editing and potential misuse—have led to global debates and the call for strict regulatory frameworks.
Life sciences

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

  • This prize was awarded to four collaborations at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb. Their research focused on the Higgs boson, crucial for understanding mass in fundamental particles.
  • Their findings confirm the symmetry-breaking mechanism of mass generation and explore new particle interactions.
  • The prize money supports further research and grants for doctoral students at CERN.

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

  • Located beneath the France–Switzerland border, the LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, housed in a 27-km tunnel.
  • It collides protons at near-light speeds to study fundamental particles and recreate conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang.
  • Major detectors like ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, and LHCb are used for different experiments.
  • CERN is also planning a much larger Future Circular Collider (FCC) to further explore unanswered questions in particle physics beyond the Standard Model.
Breakthrough prize in physics

Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics

  • Dennis Gaitsgory received the Mathematics Breakthrough Prize for his very important role in proving the geometric Langlands conjecture.
  • This work bridges various mathematical fields and reflects over thirty years of dedication to developing new tools in derived algebraic geometry.
  • The Langlands Program is often called the “grand unified theory of mathematics,” was started in 1967 by Robert Langlands.
  • The goal of this program is to connect different areas of mathematics, especially number theory and harmonic analysis.
  • In the 1990s, a similar link was found between geometry and harmonic analysis, leading to the birth of the geometric Langlands Program.
  • In 2024, Dennis Gaitsgory from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Germany, along with eight other researchers, made a major breakthrough.
  • In five detailed research papers (around 1,000 pages), they proved that many geometric shapes are connected to ideas from calculus.
  • For this big achievement, Gaitsgory was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, which includes a reward of $3 million.

Other Awards

  • The Breakthrough Prize Foundation also awarded six New Horizons Prizes, each valued at $100,000, to early-career physicists and mathematicians.
  • Additionally, the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize was given to three women mathematicians pursuing their PhD, each receiving $50,000.

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