Out of Breath:Molecular Description of Cellular Responses to Hypoxia–2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine

Living organisms need to adapt to changes in the environment in order to ensure their survival. To do this effectively, an essential requirement is the ability to sense changes in environmental conditions and respond to these with appropriate adjustments in physiology. Examples of changes that need to be sensed include illumination, temperature and chemicals in our surroundings in the form of taste and smell. In addition to these specific sensory stimuli, animals respond to relatively ubiquitous elements of the environment such as air and water and the cells and tissues of living creatures need to be able to detect changes in these and tune ongoing cellular function appropriately.