Three Americans win top international prizes for science and medicine

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 has established novel techniques for the rapid identification of genes and the fast and economical sequencing of entire genomes. These approaches have already revealed the complete genetic make-up of several species of micro-organisms, including agents of human disease. Dr. Venter's work has contributed significantly to the elucidation of the human genome.

  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 is recognized as a pioneer of several major scientific disciplines including: the field of sociobiology, the study of species within ecosystems, and the conservation of the biological diversity of species. Professor Wilson's ambitious work bringing together various fields of knowledge, in a single framework, have made him one of the past century's most important biologists.

  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 Cynthia Jane Kenyon's revolutionary research has shown that the process of aging is controlled hormonally through the insulin receptor system. The important outcome of Professor Kenyon's research is that aging is now amenable to the possibility of hormone-based, therapeutic intervention.

  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.