APPENDIX XII
NOBEL LAUREATES IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
LAUREATES, NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
Year Laureate(s) Discovery
2005 Barry J. Marshall (b. 1951; Australia) Helicobacter pylorias the cause of peptic ulcer disease
J. Robin Warren (b. 1937; Australia)2004 Richard Axel (b. 1946; USA) mechanisms through which the sense of smell (olfactory system)
Linda B. Buck (b. 1947; USA) recognizes and organizes odors2003 Paul C. Lauterbur (b. 1929; USA) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Sir Peter Mansfield (b. 1933; UK)2002 Sydney Brenner (b. 1927; UK) how genes regulate organ development and cell apoptosis (natural cell
H. Robert Horvitz (b. 1947; USA) death)
John E. Sulston (b. 1942; UK)2001 Leland H. Hartwell (b. 1939; USA) mechanisms that control the life cycle of cells and cell division
Tim Hunt (b. 1943; UK)
Sir Paul Nurse (b. 1949; UK)2000 Arvid Carlsson (b. 1923; Sweden) mechanisms by which neurotransmitters carry nerve impulses among
Paul Greengard (b. 1925; USA) brain neurons
Eric R. Kandel (b. 1929; USA)1999 Günter Blobel (b. 1999; Germany) intrinsic signals that direct proteins to their target locations within cells425Alfred Nobel (1833–1896), a successful Swedish
businessman who invented dynamite, established
the Nobel Prize in his will. Nobel intended for the
prize to honor “those who, during the preceding
year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on
mankind.” Nobel stipulated five areas of award:
physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, litera-
ture, and peace.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in
Stockholm, Sweden accepts nominations—up to
several hundred each year—and selects the laure-
ates. Up to three people, working independently
or in collaboration, may share the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine each year. No Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1915,
1916, 1917, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1940, 1941, and
1942.
Complete information about Nobel laureates in
all categories appears on the Nobel Prize Web site
(nobelprize.org).