The award was announced this Monday
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to the Hungarian biochemist responsible for creating the RNA vaccine technology against Covid-19 Katalin Karikó and the American immunologistwyear Drew Weissmann.
In addition to the medal and diploma, the winners take home a significant sum of money, 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately R$4.8 million). The Medicine Prize has been awarded since 1901, the year in which the prize originated, following the guidelines left posthumously in the will of the Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).
In total, 113 Physiology and Medicine prizes have already been awarded. Last year, the big winner was Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, responsible for sequencing the DNA of Neanderthals, an extinct species of hominid. Paabo was also responsible for the discovery of a new species of hominid, the Denisovans.
And, most importantly: the geneticist demonstrated how these currently extinct hominids were related to the Homo sapiens 70 thousand years ago, when our ancestors began to leave Africa to conquer the rest of the planet, leaving us part of their genetic code.
A curiosity about Paabo: he is the son of the Swedish biochemist Sune Bergstorm (1916-2004), winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1982 – exactly forty years before his son received the same prize. Bergstsorm was awarded together with two other scientists for their discoveries on prostaglandins, lipid compounds with effects similar to those of hormones. This is the only father and son duo to receive the Medicine award.
In 2021 the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for the discovery of temperature and touch receptors”. The previous year, Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice were honored for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. William G Kaelin, Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza were honored in 2019 “for having discovered how cells adapt to the environment and the availability of oxygen”.
In more than a century of awards, only 12 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The first among them only in 1947, the American Gerty Cori, who shared the prize with two men. One of them was her husband, Carl Ferdinand Cori, with whom she developed essential research for a better understanding of diabetes.
The only woman to win the prize without sharing it with other scientists in this category was Barbara McClintock, in 1983, for her discoveries on the so-called “jumping genes”, which pass through the genome and are capable of moving and replicating in segments of the DNA.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
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