Breakthrough Prize 2019: Winners

Recipients

1. Fundamental Physics

   Charles Kane, Eugene Mele

   Physics

   For new ideas about topology and symmetry in physics, leading to the prediction of a new class of materials that conduct electricity only on their surface.

2. Life Sciences

   Angelika Amon

   Biology

   for determining the consequences of aneuploidy, an abnormal chromosome number resulting from chromosome mis-segregation.

3. Life Sciences

   C. Frank Bennett

   Biology

   for the development of an effective antisense oligonucleotide therapy for children with the neurodegenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy.

4. Life Sciences

   Xiaowei Zhuang

   Biology

   for discovering hidden structures in cells by developing super-resolution imaging – a method that transcends the fundamental spatial resolution limit of light microscopy.

5. Life Sciences

   Zhijian Chen

   Biology

   for elucidating how DNA triggers immune and autoimmune responses from the interior of a cell through the discovery of the DNA-sensing enzyme cGAS.

6. Mathematics

   Vincent Lafforgue

   Math

   for ground breaking contributions to several areas of mathematics, in particular to the Langlands program in the function field case.