The ”miracle” discovery that reversed the diabetes death sentence

More than 100 years ago, Frederick Banting and John Macleod did experiments on dogs, with a successful outcome. Today, insulin continues to help some of the over 400 million people around the world with diabetes.

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More Nobel Prize awarded work on insulin

Rosalyn Yalow

Proved the cause of Type 2 diabetes
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Mapped the structure of insulin
Frederick Sanger

Studied the composition of the insulin molecule

Jimmy Carter 1924–2024

Nobel Peace Prize 2002

“The worst thing that you can do is not to try”

Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

In his speech at the award ceremony Gunnar Berge cited the laureate and concluded: “Few people, if any, have tried harder. This year’s laureate does the opposite of what his countryman Mark Twain once wrote about forgetting where you bury the peace-pipe, but not where the battle-axe is. Carter never mislays the peace-pipe”.

Photo of Jimmy Carter at the prize award ceremony — Jimmy Carter showing his Nobel Prize medal and diploma at the award ceremony in Oslo City Hall.

© Knudsens fotosenter/Dextra Photo, Norsk Teknisk Museum.

Nobel Prizes 2024

Physics

They used physics to find patterns in information

This year’s laureates used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning.
Chemistry

They cracked the code for proteins’ amazing structures

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about proteins, life’s ingenious chemical tools.
Physiology or medicine

Tiny RNAs with profound physiological importance

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.
Literature

Han Kang

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang, “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
Peace

A powerful international norm stigmatising nuclear weapons

The grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
Economic sciences

An explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor

This year’s laureates have provided new insights into why there are such vast differences in prosperity between nations.

One-minute crash course

What does microRNA do?

How much do you know about the discoveries awarded the 2024 Nobel Prizes? Take our one-minute crash course on each of the prizes and find out how each have changed our world.

Discover all crash courses

Nobel Prize lessons for students

Learn more about the Nobel Prizes with the ready-to-use Nobel Prize lessons. Watch the videos, look through the manual and slides, print the texts for students and start the class.

2018_NPS_India (315) — © Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Highlights from Nobel Week 2024

Nobel Prize laureates at the award ceremony in Stockholm.

Simon Johnson receiving his prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at Konserthuset Stockholm on 10 December 2024.

The Nobel Prize award ceremony 2024.

Nobel Prize banquet table of honour

Han Kang delivering her banquet speech.

Daron Acemoglu delivering his banquet speech.

Swedish artist Laleh performing at the Nobel Prize banquet 2024.

The co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo, Mr Terumi Tanaka, Mr Shigemitsu Tanaka and Mr Toshiyuki Mimaki, with the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes.

Demis Hassabis with his Nobel Prize medal and diploma at the Nobel Foundation.

Han Kang on a school visit in Rinkeby, Stockholm.

A luminous light installation on Stadshuset, Stockholm

Nobel Week Lights 2024: ‘Leading Lights’ by Les Atelier BK is a luminous tribute to the brilliance of female pioneers. Drawing inspiration from extensive scientific and historical research, the piece is a grand celebration of their groundbreaking contributions to humanity.

Photo: Benoît Derrier. Artist: Les Atelier BK

Han Kang visited Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s apartment in central Stockholm.

Soprano singer singing in front of orchestra

Soprano Malin Byström, conductor Petr Popelka and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the Nobel Prize Concert 2024.

Han Kang meeting people after her literature lecture at the Swedish Academy on 7 December.

John J. Hopfield delivering his Nobel Prize lecture in physics on 8 December 2024 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University.

John Jumper delivering his Nobel Prize lecture in chemistry on 8 December 2024 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University.

Nobel Prize lecture at Karolinska Institutet by Gary Ruvkun, Nobel Prize laureate in physiology or medicine 2024.

Like many laureates before him, physics laureate Geoffrey Hinton signed a chair at the laureates’ get together at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm on 6 December 2024.

Victor Ambros talking to a student after his Nobel Prize lecture at Karolinska Institutet.

A man showing a chair with her signature

Economic sciences laureate James A. Robinson with his signed chair at the Nobel Prize Museum on 6 December 2024.

David Baker in front of a dress inspired by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, made by Jane Elliotte Svahn and Alvaro Sanchez, and shown in the exhibition ‘Nobel Creations 2024’ at the Nobel Prize Museum.

Seven men and one woman standing together

Eight of the 2024 laureates assembled at the Nobel Prize Museum, 6 December 2024. Back row: Victor Ambros, Han Kang, David Baker and Demis Hassabis. Front row: James A. Robinson, Simon Johnson, John Jumper and Gary Ruvkun.

Chemistry laureate Demis Hassabis arriving at the laureates’ get together at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm on 6 December 2024.

Nobel Prize award ceremony 2024

“It lies in our hands to change the world”

Opening address by professor Astrid Söderbergh Widding, chair of the board of the Nobel Foundation

Watch the award ceremony

Nobel Prize banquet speeches

Physics – Geoffrey Hinton

“Unfortunately, the rapid progress in AI comes with many short-term risks”
Chemistry – David Baker

“Scientific breakthroughs do not happen in isolation”
Medicine – Gary Ruvkun

“Thousands of us now study this worm C. elegans, a genetic discovery powerhouse”
Literature – Han Kang

“Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to know. The reason we are born.”
Economic sciences – Daron Acemoglu

“Institutions are always about choices. What worries us also gives us hope.”

Nobel Prize lecture in literature

“Each time I work on a novel, I endure the questions, I live inside them”

Han Kang delivered her Nobel Prize lecture at the Swedish Academy.

Watch and read the lecture

Nobel Prize lectures

Medicine lectures

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun.
Physics lectures

John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton.
Chemistry lectures

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper.
Economic sciences lectures

James A. Robinson, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson.
Peace lecture

Terumi Tanaka from Nihon Hidankyo.

Watch Nobel Minds

Nobel Prize laureates in discussion

Watch six of the 2024 laureates talk about their research and careers in a unique roundtable discussion, Nobel Minds, moderated by BBC’s Zeinab Badawi.

Seven men and women sitting at a round tabel — Nobel Minds 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

Nobel Peace Prize Forum

Oslo

“There was a flash. Everything turned to white”

Keiko Ogura was eight when Hiroshima was bombed and was haunted for years afterwards by well-meaning actions to help survivors. The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Forum “NUKES – How to counter the threat” focused on strategies to mitigate the risk of nuclear war and advance toward nuclear disarmament.

Nobel Week Dialogue

Is there a road towards health for all?

In the 2024 Nobel Week Dialogue: The Future of Health, Nobel Prize laureates and other experts gathered to discuss and envision our future. They explored ground-breaking medical advancements, disease prevention strategies, and innovative ways to enhance our lives.

People on stage — © Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

Nobel Prize Concert 2024

A magnificent musical celebration of science

Swedish soprano Malin Byström and conductor Petr Popelka performed together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nobel Prize Concert in Konserthuset Stockholm on 8 December. They performed a programme of dance-inspired music by Vítezslava Kaprálová, Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Watch the concert on Sveriges Television, SVT (Swedish viewers)
Watch the concert on the Nobel Prize Youtube channel (viewers abroad)
Listen to the concert on Swedish Radio

Alfred Nobel

Play and learn

The Blood Typing Game

How much do you know about blood types? Try out in this game.
Pavlov’s Dog

Learn about conditioned reflexes in this interactive game.
Vitamin B1

This fast-paced game relies on a keen knowledge of food containing vitamin B1.

In memoriam

Jimmy Carter passes away aged 100

Former US President Jimmy Carter passed away on 29 December 2024. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.

Biography

The ”miracle” discovery that reversed the diabetes death sentence

“It lies in our hands to change the world”

“Each time I work on a novel, I endure the questions, I live inside them”

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