American and German researchers to share $500K medical prize

The researchers were chosen for their fundamental and complementary discoveries related to the mechanisms of "protein folding," the last step in transferring genetic information from amino acids to cell proteins, said Dr. Vincent Verdile, dean of Albany Medical College and chairman of the prize committee.

"Though this may not be a term familiar to the general public, protein folding is a concept considered revolutionary in modern biology, with important implications for the treatment or delay of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, as well as cancer and drug resistance," Verdile said.