The 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine rewarded three scientists who deciphered the signalling pathways that regulate some of the brain’s most important functions. The primary switches for these processes are neurotransmitters: chemical messengers sent from one nerve cell to another across the tiny junctions, or synapses, that separate them. Arvid Carlsson overturned conventional…

The immune system is primed to respond to disease-bearing microbes of almost any description, but what was far from clear was exactly what measures it uses to defeat any such attack. The approaches that the two recipients of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine took to uncovering the answer differed in philosophies and…

Viruses, such as those that cause the common cold or flu, are a particularly devious form of intruder to tackle. Once they enter their host, these infectious agents find cells to hide in while they reproduce in order to infiltrate more targets. Fortunately for us our internal defence system has a trick up its sleeve…

For virtually every invading pathogen, be it a bacterium, virus or another microorganism, the body has a unique antibody specially designed to stop it in its tracks. Made and released by a special type of white blood cell, B lymphocytes, antibodies search for and bind to a distinctive molecule located on the assigned invader, sending…

While fighting off infectious agents, our immune defences must take extreme care to avoid harming any cells belonging to its own host. Achieving this requires a sophisticated self-identification system, and this is centred on a collection of genes called the major histocompatibility complex, or MHC, which encode proteins known collectively as histocompatibility antigens. Each individual…

At first glance, one person’s blood looks no different from another’s, but appearances can be dangerously deceptive. Early attempts at carrying out blood transfusions in humans were highly unpredictable, often triggering a hazardous and potentially fatal reaction. Examining the underlying cause of such bad blood between people led Karl Landsteiner to discover the existence of…

Niels Ryberg Finsen did not deliver a Nobel Lecture.

As the Laureate was unable to be present at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, December 10, 1903, a telegrem was read by Professor the Count K.A.H. Mörner, Rector of the (in Danish) Köpenhamn d. 10/12 1903 “Herr Rektor Greve Mörner! Jeg beder dem overbringe den højtærede Forsamling min Hilsen og min Beklagelse över ikke at…

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Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1967 The Development of Retinal Neurophysiology Pdf 93 kB