# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/michael-houghton
# Generated: 2026-09-07T20:31:04.604Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/michael-houghton"
name: "Michael Houghton"
slug: "michael-houghton"
description: "He found the virus that was silently killing transfusion recipients worldwide — hepatitis C, invisible until 1989. The discovery turned a one-in-three blood-supply gamble into a one-in-two-million shot."
tagline: "Virologist"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Prof_Michael_Houghton.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United Kingdom"
  isoCode: "GB"
birthDate: "1949"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           53.17
  momentum:             2.514970059880239
  historical:           22.29507066666667
  currentAttention:     13.97205588822355
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  50
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Biology"
    slug: "biology"
  - name: "United Kingdom"
    slug: "united-kingdom"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
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    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Michael%20Houghton"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "মাইকেল হাউটন"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Майкл Хаўтан"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BA%D1%8A%D0%BB_%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%83%D1%82%D1%8A%D0%BD"
    title: "Майкъл Хоутън"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2_%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%A8"
    title: "মাইকেল হাউটন"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton_(virolog)"
    title: "Michael Houghton (virolog)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%AC%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BB_%CE%A7%CE%AC%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD"
    title: "Μάικλ Χάουτον"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "مایکل هوتون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%95%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9F"
    title: "מייקל האוטון"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%A1%D5%B5%D6%84%D5%AC_%D5%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B8%D5%B6_(%D5%BE%D5%AB%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BD%D5%A1%D5%A2%D5%A1%D5%B6)"
    title: "Մայքլ Հութոն (վիրուսաբան)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton"
    title: "Michael Houghton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9B%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3_(%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9%E5%AD%A6%E8%80%85)"
    title: "マイケル・ホートン (ウイルス学者)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maykl_Houton"
    title: "Maykl Houton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "مايكل هوتون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "مايكل هوتون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in 1949, Houghton worked through the 1980s chasing a pathogen no one could see. In 1986 he and his team co-discovered the hepatitis D genome. Three years later, alongside Qui-Lim Choo, George Kuo, and Daniel W. Bradley, he identified hepatitis C. Diagnostic tests followed fast, and antibody screening now prevents an estimated 40,000 new infections each year in the U.S. alone. He shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice. Today he directs the Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute at the University of Alberta, where he holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology.