睡眠研究の柳沢正史さんに米ラスカー賞

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is September twelfth. A Japanese scientist who studies sleep has just won one of the world's top medical prizes. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

The Lasker Award, the most prestigious medical prize in America, has gone to a professor at the University of Tsukuba.

It means authority, or prestige.

The prize is often called the American Nobel Prize — many winners later win a Nobel too.

It means a prize winner.

He won for discovering orexin, a substance in the brain that controls sleeping and waking.

It means a substance.

In 1998, he was the first in the world to report that orexin keeps the brain awake.

It means to keep, or maintain.

He also found that when orexin runs short, it causes narcolepsy — a disease where people suddenly fall asleep during the day.

It means suddenly.

The discovery also led to the development of new medicines.

It means development.

Drugs that block orexin are used around the world to treat insomnia.

It means a medicine used for treatment.

The professor said the day has come when basic research on sleep finally gets the spotlight.

It means basic research — science that studies how things work.

In Japan, hopes are now rising for a Nobel Prize next.

It means expectation, or hope.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

The University of Tsukuba.

Orexin.

Insomnia — trouble falling asleep.

That's all for today. Twenty-eight years from one discovery in the lab to medicines helping people sleep around the world — and maybe a Nobel Prize ahead. See you tomorrow!