Biomaterials wins the Millennium Technology Prize in Finland.
Out of six finalists competing with four innovations in biotech and IT in the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize from Finland, the winner was Professor Robert Langer for developing innovative biomaterials for controlled drug release.
The world’s largest technology prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland for a technological innovation that significantly improves quality of human life and promotes sustainable development. President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen handed Professor Langer the prize of EUR 800,000 and ”Peak”, the prize trophy, at the Grand Award Ceremony
The other contendors were DNA fingerprinting technique developed by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys which has revolutionized the field of forensic science and methods of defining family relations: Dr. Andrew Viterbi’s innovation, the Viterbi algorithm which is used to prevent errors in wireless communications systems and devices such as cell phones and the erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA), invented by Professor Emmanuel Desurvire, Dr. Randy Giles and Professor David Payne which has multiplied the global optical fibre network’s capacity to carry telephone and Internet communications signals.
The prize pool for the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize is €1.15m. The Winner of the Millennium Technology Prize will be awarded € 800,000, and the other innovations will each be awarded €115,000.
The 2008 Millennium Technology Prize was presented to Professor Robert Langer for developing innovative biomaterials for controlled drug release. President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen handed Professor Langer the prize €800,000 and ”Peak”, the prize trophy, at the Grand Award Ceremony.
Professor Robert Langer's innovations have had a significant impact on fighting cancer, heart disease, and numerous other diseases. His work has also brought about significant advances in tissue engineering, including synthetic replacement for biological tissues such as artificial skin. Over 100m people a year are already using advanced drug delivery systems and this number is rising rapidly. In the future, tissue engineering may revolutionize medical treatment that could affect millions of other individuals.
"Tissue engineering holds the promise of creating virtually any new tissue or organ," said Professor Langer.
Known as the father of controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering, Professor Langer has been cited as "one of history's most prolific inventors in medicine". Professor Langer's research laboratory at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering laboratory in the world.
The Millennium Technology Prize is Finland’s tribute to life-enhancing technological innovation. Previous winners are Tim Berners-Lee, 2004, for the invention of the World Wide Web and Shuji Nakamura, 2006, for the invention of bright-blue, green and white LEDs and a blue laser diode.
Source: http://www.millenniumprize.fi