Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Dr. John Craig Venter of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland was among three US winners of the 2000 King Faisal International Prizes announced today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Venter shares the Science prize with Professor Edward Wilson of Harvard University. Both men won the Science prize for their work in the field of biology.
The Medicine prize went to Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, a professor of biochemistry at the University of California, San Francisco, for her research in the aging process.
Dr. Venter, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the Founder and President of the Celera Genomics Corporation and Founder and Chairman of the Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, Maryland.
Professor Wilson, born in Birmingham, Alabama, is renowned for his Pulitzer Prize-winning books On Human Nature and The Ants, a seminal work in the field of sociobiology.
Professor Kenyon, born in Chicago, Illinois, holds the Herbert Boyer Distinguished Professorship of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the University of California in San Francisco.
Notes to Editors:
* In 1999, two former King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) winners were awarded Nobel Prizes: Gunter Blobel (Medicine) and Ahmed Zewail (Science). Professor Blobel won the 1996 KFIP for Medicine and the 1999 Nobel Prize for successfully deciphering the chemical signals that proteins use to navigate around living cells. Blobel's discovery could help lead to powerful treatments in cures for such diseases as Alzheimer's and cancer. Professor Zewail, a 1989 KFIP Science laureate, won last year's Nobel prize for his pioneering work on time-resolved, femtosecond spectroscopy. His research could lead to important developments in industrial chemistry and the manufacture of drugs. A total of five KFIP winners have won Nobel Prizes.
* King Faisal International Prize is a branch of the King Faisal Foundation (KFF), the Middle East's largest philanthropic organisation. Through its numerous activities around the world, KFF preserves and promotes Islamic culture, assists needy communities, advances educational opportunities, and encourages research, particularly in the fields of science, medicine, and Islamic studies. King Faisal foundation was formed in 1976 by the eight sons of King Faisal as a means of carrying on their father's good works and preserving his memory.