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Scientific background Mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. John B. Gurdon and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka for their discovery that mature, differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent stem cell state. This represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of cellular…

Gene Modification in Mice Introduction The 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is awarded to Drs Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells. Their work has made it possible to modify specific genes…

Scientific background Activation of the immune system The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded with one half jointly to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity, and the other half to Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its…

The discoveries of human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer and of human immunodeficiency virus Professor Harald zur Hausen, emeritus Scientific Director and Chairman of the Management Board of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, has made seminal observations that identify novel human papilloma viruses as key contributors to cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is…

RNA INTERFERENCE This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is shared by Professor Andrew Z. Fire at Stanford University, California, USA, and Professor Craig C. Mello at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, USA. They receive the prize for their discovery that double-stranded RNA triggers suppression of gene activity in a homology-dependent…

Advanced information Maintenance of chromosomes by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Drs. Elizabeth H Blackburn, Jack W Szostak and Carol W Greider for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. They solved a long­standing fundamental problem in biology;…

Advanced information Human in vitro fertilization The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. Robert G. Edwards for the development of human in vitro fertilization (IVF), a medical advance that represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of many types of infertility. The inability to conceive a child is a reproductive…

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