Deciphering cell’s recycling machinery earns Nobel

Yoshinori Ohsumi honored for studies of autophagy

Yoshinori Ohsumi

PRIZED CELLS   Yoshinori Ohsumi, a biologist at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, won this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work uncovering how cells break down old materials — a process critical for keeping cells healthy.

Kyodo News/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Figuring out the nuts and bolts of the cell’s recycling machinery has earned the 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.