Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

A Japanese scientist whose research is focused on how cells gets recycled by the human body was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday.

Yoshinori Ohsumi, 71, is a cell biologist who specializes in "autophagy," described by the 2016 Nobel academy as a ”self eating” process for degrading and recycling cellular components. When autophagy does not occur it has been linked to diseases such as Parkinson’s, diabetes and cancer.

A complete list of 2015's Nobel Prize winners

The prize was awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute. "Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases," Karolinska said in a statement.

Ohsumi is a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. "As a scientist, I’m extremely honored,” he said in an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK.

He said the “human body is always repeating the auto-decomposition process, or cannibalism, and there is a fine balance between formation and decomposition. That’s what life is about.”

Last year’s prize was shared by three scientists who developed treatments for malaria and tropical diseases. It was the 107th award in that category since the first Nobel Prizes were handed out in 1905.

The announcements continue with physics on Tuesday and chemistry on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics and literature awards will be announced next week. Each prize is worth $930,000.