Cystic fibrosis was once a dire, likely deadly diagnosis, destroying a patient's ability to breathe and digest food -- but a revolutionary new treatment offers reason for hope.

And on Thursday the three scientists who developed the clinical advance were awarded America's most prestigious scientific award, taking home the Lasker prize.

The top honor is frequently cited as a pre-cursor for a potential Nobel, and this year it recognized the pulmonologist Michael Welsh along with researchers Jesus Gonzalez and Paul Negulescu from the US laboratory Vertex.

Their research has shed light on the causes of the disease and given rise to a new class of innovative drugs, including the flagship treatment Kaftrio -- known as Trikafta in the United States -- which are capable of stabilizing the otherw

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