Editing Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

{{Short description|One of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Nobel Prize<br>in Physiology or Medicine
| image = Nobel Prize.png
| alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "MDCCCXXXIII" above, followed by (smaller) "OB•" then "MDCCCXCVI" below.
| awarded_for = Discoveries in physiology or medicine that led to benefit for humankind
| location = [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| presenter = [[Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet]]
| reward = 11 million [[Swedish krona|SEK]] (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize amounts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/about/the-nobel-prize-amounts/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |publisher=The Nobel Prize |archive-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720111123/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/about/amounts/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| year = 1901
| holder = [[Victor Ambros]] and [[Gary Ruvkun]] (2024)
| website = {{URL|https://nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/|nobelprize.org/medicine}}
| previous = [[Template:2023 Nobel Prize winners|2023]]
| year2 = 2024
| main = [[Template:2024 Nobel Prize winners|2024]]
| next = [[Template:2025 Nobel Prize winners|2025]]
}}

The '''Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine''' ({{langx|sv|text=Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin}}) is awarded yearly by the [[Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute|Nobel Assembly]] at the [[Karolinska Institute]] for outstanding discoveries in [[physiology]] or medicine. The [[Nobel Prize]] is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to [[Alfred Nobel]]'s 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]], Medicine or Physiology, [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]], [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]], and [[Nobel Peace Prize|Peace]].

The Nobel Prize is presented annually on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, 10 December. As of 2024, 115 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to 229 laureates, 216 men and 13 women. The first one was awarded in 1901 to the German physiologist, [[Emil von Behring]], for his work on [[blood plasma|serum]] therapy and the development of a [[vaccine]] against [[diphtheria]]. The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, [[Gerty Cori]], received it in 1947 for her role in elucidating the metabolism of [[glucose]], important in many aspects of medicine, including treatment of [[diabetes]]. The most recent Nobel prize was announced by the Karolinska Institute on 7 October 2024, and has been awarded to Americans [[Victor Ambros]] and [[Gary Ruvkun]], for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2024/summary/|access-date=7 October 2024|publisher=Nobel Foundation}}</ref>

The prize consists of [[Nobel Prize medal|a medal]] along with a diploma and a certificate for the monetary award. The [[obverse|front side]] of the medal displays the same profile of [[Alfred Nobel]] depicted on the medals for Physics, Chemistry, and Literature; the reverse side is unique to this medal.

Some awards have been controversial. This includes one to [[António Egas Moniz]] in 1949 for the [[lobotomy|prefrontal lobotomy]], bestowed despite protests from the medical establishment. Other controversies resulted from disagreements over who was included in the award. The 1952 prize to [[Selman Waksman]] was litigated in court, and half the patent rights were awarded to his co-discoverer [[Albert Schatz (scientist)|Albert Schatz]] who was not recognised by the prize. Nobel prizes cannot be awarded posthumously. Also, no more than three recipients can receive a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, a limitation that is sometimes discussed because of an increasing trend for larger teams to conduct important scientific projects.

== Background ==
[[File:AlfredNobel adjusted.jpg|thumb|Nobel was interested in experimental physiology and set up his own laboratories.]]

[[Alfred Nobel]] was born on 21 October 1833 in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, into a family of engineers.<ref name="Levinovitz5">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 5</ref> He was a chemist, engineer and inventor who amassed a fortune during his lifetime, most of it from his 355&nbsp;inventions, of which [[dynamite]] is the most famous.<ref name="Levinovitz11">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 11</ref> He was interested in experimental physiology and set up his own labs in France and Italy to conduct experiments in blood transfusions. Keeping abreast of scientific findings, he was generous in his donations to [[Ivan Pavlov]]'s laboratory in Russia and was optimistic about the progress resulting from scientific discoveries made in laboratories.<ref name="Feldman237-238">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], pp. 237–238</ref>
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In 1888, Nobel was surprised to read his own obituary, titled "The merchant of death is dead", in a French newspaper. As it happened, it was Nobel's brother [[Ludvig Nobel|Ludvig]] who had died, but Nobel, unhappy with the content of the obituary and concerned that his legacy would reflect poorly on him, was inspired to change his will.<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine | first = Frederic | last = Golden | title = The Worst and the Brightest | date = 16 October 2000 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998209,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071103153942/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998209,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 November 2007  | access-date =9 April 2010}}</ref> In his last will, Nobel requested that his money be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in [[physics]], [[chemistry]], [[peace]], [[physiology]] or medicine, and literature.<ref name="BBCHistory">{{cite web |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/nobel_alfred.shtml |title = History – Historic Figures: Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) |publisher = BBC |access-date = 15 January 2010 |archive-date = 2 September 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130902104414/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/nobel_alfred.shtml |url-status = live }}</ref> Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last was written a little over a year before he died in 1896 at the age of 63.<ref>{{cite book |last = Sohlman |first = Ragnar |title = The Legacy of Alfred Nobel – The Story Behind the Nobel Prizes |year = 1983 |publisher = The Nobel Foundation |edition = First |isbn = 978-0-370-30990-3 |author-link = Ragnar Sohlman |page = 13}}</ref> Because his will was contested, it was not approved by the [[Parliament of Norway|Storting]] (Norwegian Parliament) until 26 April 1897.<ref name="Levinovitz13">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 13</ref>

After Nobel's death, the [[Nobel Foundation]] was set up to manage the assets of the bequest.<ref name="nobelfoundation">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobelfoundation/index.html |title = The Nobel Foundation |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 22 June 2010 |url-status = bot: unknown |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060701202001/http://nobelprize.org/nobelfoundation/index.html |archive-date = 1 July 2006}}</ref> In 1900, the Nobel Foundation's newly created [[statute]]s were promulgated by Swedish King [[Oscar II of Sweden|Oscar II]].<ref name="thelocal1">AFP, [http://www.thelocal.se/14776/20091005/ "Alfred Nobel's last will and testament"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009110708/http://www.thelocal.se/14776/20091005/ |date=9 October 2009 }}, ''[[The Local]]''(5 October 2009): accessed 20 January 2010.</ref><ref name="Levinovitz14">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 26</ref> According to Nobel's will, the [[Karolinska Institute]] in Sweden, a medical school and research centre, is responsible for the Prize in Physiology or Medicine.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.infoplease.com/spot/nobel-prize-history.html |title = Nobel Prize History |publisher = Infoplease.com |date = 13 October 1999 |access-date = 15 January 2010 |archive-date = 26 April 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130426043912/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/nobel-prize-history.html |url-status = live }}</ref> <!-- <ref name=BritannicaWill>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416856/Nobel-Prize "Nobel Prize]" (2007), in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Retrieved 15 January 2009, from ''Encyclopædia Britannica'': {{quote|After Nobel's death, the Nobel Foundation was set up to carry out the provisions of his will and to administer his funds. In his will, he had stipulated that four different institutions—three Swedish and one Norwegian—should award the prizes. From Stockholm, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences confers the prizes for physics, chemistry, and economics, the Karolinska Institute confers the prize for physiology or medicine, and the Swedish Academy confers the prize for literature. The Norwegian Nobel Committee based in Oslo confers the prize for peace. The Nobel Foundation is the legal owner and functional administrator of the funds, and serves as the joint administrative body of the prize-awarding institutions, but it is not concerned with the prize deliberations or decisions, which rest exclusively with the four institutions. }}</ref> --> <!-- <ref name=BritannicaWill/> --> Today, the prize is commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Medicine.<ref name="Levinovitz112">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 112</ref>

== Nomination and selection ==
[[File:MedicineNobelBack.jpg|thumb|The reverse side of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine]]

It was important to Nobel that the prize be awarded for a "discovery" and that it be of "greatest benefit on mankind".<ref name="Lindsten">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/lindsten-ringertz-rev/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1901–2000 |last = Lindsten |first = Jan |author2 = Nils Ringertz |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 11 July 2010 |archive-date = 3 December 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203130152/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/lindsten-ringertz-rev/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref>
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Per the provisions of the will, only select persons are eligible to nominate individuals for the award. These include members of academies around the world, professors of medicine in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland, as well as professors of selected universities and research institutions in other countries. Past Nobel laureates may also nominate.<ref>{{cite book |last = Foundation Books National Council of Science |title = Nobel Prize Winners in Pictures |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_K2RaFgFPCUC |year = 2005 |publisher = Foundation Books |isbn = 978-81-7596-245-3 |page = viii |access-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-date = 20 June 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200620115338/https://books.google.com/books?id=_K2RaFgFPCUC |url-status = live }}</ref> Until 1977, all professors of Karolinska Institute together decided on the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. That year, changes in Swedish law forced the institute to make public any documents pertaining to the Nobel Prize, and it was considered necessary to establish a legally independent body for the Prize work. Therefore, the Nobel Assembly was constituted, consisting of 50 professors at Karolinska Institute. It elects the [[Nobel Committee]] with five members who evaluate the nominees, the Secretary who is in charge of the organisation, and each year ten adjunct members to assist in the evaluation of candidates. In 1968, a provision was added that no more than three persons may share a Nobel prize.<ref name="Levinovitz17">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 17</ref>

True to its mandate, the committee has chosen researchers working in the basic sciences over those who have made [[applied science]] contributions. [[Harvey Cushing]], a pioneering American [[neurosurgeon]] who identified [[Cushing's syndrome]], was not awarded the prize, nor was [[Sigmund Freud]], as his [[psychoanalysis]] lacks hypotheses that can be experimentally confirmed.<ref name="Feldman238">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], p. 238</ref> The public expected [[Jonas Salk]] or [[Albert Sabin]] to receive the prize for their development of the [[polio vaccine]]s, but instead the award went to [[John Enders]], [[Thomas Huckle Weller|Thomas Weller]], and [[Frederick Robbins]] whose basic discovery that the polio virus could reproduce in monkey cells in laboratory preparations made the vaccines possible.<ref name="bishop">{{cite book |last = Bishop |first = J. Michael |title = How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jJqgBtk58akC |year = 2004 |publisher = Harvard University Press |isbn = 978-0-674-01625-5 |pages = 23–24 |access-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200608161624/https://books.google.com/books?id=jJqgBtk58akC |url-status = live }}</ref>

Through the 1930s, there were frequent prize laureates in classical [[physiology]], but after that, the field began fragmenting into specialities. The last classical physiology laureates were [[John Eccles (neurophysiologist)|John Eccles]], [[Alan Hodgkin]], and [[Andrew Huxley]] in 1963 for their findings regarding "unitary electrical events in the central and peripheral nervous system."<ref name="Feldman239">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], p. 239</ref>

== Prizes ==
A Medicine or Physiology Nobel Prize laureate earns a [[gold medal]], a diploma bearing a [[citation]], and a sum of money.<ref>{{cite web |author = Tom Rivers |date = 10 December 2009 |url = https://www.voanews.com/a/article-2009-nobel-laureates-receive-their-honors-78989292/368898.html |title = 2009 Nobel Laureates Receive Their Honors |publisher = Voice of America |access-date = 15 January 2010 |archive-date = 4 October 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121004132331/http://www.voanews.com/content/article-2009-nobel-laureates-receive-their-honors-78989292/368898.html |url-status = live }}</ref> These are awarded during the prize ceremony at the [[Stockholm Concert Hall]].

=== Medals ===
{{Main|Nobel Prize medal#Physiology and Medicine}}

[[File:Nobel prize medal for medicine, Sweden, 1945, to Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) who discovered Penicillin. On display at the National Museum of Scotland.jpg|thumb|[[Alexander Fleming]]'s 1945 [[Nobel Prize medal]] for Physiology and Medicine on display at the [[National Museum of Scotland]], Edinburgh.]]
The Physiology and Medicine medal has a portrait of [[Alfred Nobel]] in left profile on the [[obverse and reverse|obverse]].<ref name='NobelUnique'>{{cite web|title=A unique gold medal|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/about/the-nobel-medals-and-the-medal-for-the-prize-in-economic-sciences/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411152140/https://historical.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous/georg-wittig-nobel-prize-medal-in-chemistry-received-in-1979-together-with-four-additional-medals/a/6165-49227.s|archive-date=11 April 2017|publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref> The medal was designed by [[Erik Lindberg]].<ref name='NobelUnique'/> The reverse of the medal depicts the 'Genius of Medicine holding an open book in her lap, collecting the water pouring out from a rock in order to quench a sick girl's thirst'.<ref name='NobelMedicine'>{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize medal in physiology or medicine|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/the-nobel-medal-for-physiology-or-medicine/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416152940/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/the-nobel-medal-for-physiology-or-medicine/|archive-date=16 April 2023|publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref> It is inscribed "{{lang|la|Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes}}" ("It is beneficial to have improved (human) life through discovered arts") an adaptation of "{{lang|la|inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes}}" from line 663 from book 6 of the ''[[Aeneid]]'' by the Roman poet [[Virgil]].<ref name='NobelMedicine'/> A plate below the figures is inscribed with the name of the recipient. The text "REG. UNIVERSITAS MED. CHIR. CAROL." denoting the [[Karolinska Institute]] is also inscribed on the reverse.<ref name='NobelMedicine'/>

Between 1902 and 2010 the Nobel Prize medals were struck by the [[Myntverket]], the Swedish royal [[Mint (facility)|mint]], located in [[Eskilstuna]]. In 2011 the medals were made by the Det Norske Myntverket in [[Kongsberg]]. The medals have been made by Svenska Medalj in [[Eskilstuna]] since 2012.<ref name='NobelUnique'/>

=== Diplomas ===
Nobel laureates receive a diploma directly from the [[King of Sweden]]. Each diploma is uniquely designed by the prize-awarding institutions for the laureate who receives it. In the case of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, that is the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute. Well-known artists and calligraphers from Sweden are commissioned to create it.<ref name="nobelprize5">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/diplomas/ |title = The Nobel Prize Diplomas |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 15 January 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060701201519/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/diplomas/ |archive-date = 1 July 2006}}</ref> The diploma contains a picture and text which states the name of the laureate and a citation as to why they received the prize.<ref name="nobelprize5" />

=== Award money ===
At the awards ceremony, the laureate is given a document indicating the award sum. The amount of the cash award may differ from year to year, based on the funding available from the [[Nobel Foundation]]. For example, in 2009 the total cash awarded was 10&nbsp;million SEK (US$1.4&nbsp;million),<ref name="nobelprize2">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/about/amounts/ |title=The Nobel Prize Amounts |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720111123/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/about/amounts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but in 2012, the amount was 8&nbsp;million Swedish Krona, or US$1.1&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/11/world/europe/nobel-prize-cut/index.html|title=Nobel prize amounts to be cut 20% in 2012|publisher=CNN|date=11 June 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709002611/http://articles.cnn.com/2012-06-11/world/world_europe_nobel-prize-cut_1_nobel-prize-nobel-foundation-alfred-nobel?_s=PM:EUROPE|archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> If there are two laureates in a particular category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients, but if there are three, the awarding committee may opt to divide the grant equally, or award half to one recipient and a quarter to each of the two others.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/05/nobel-prize-medicine-2009-award|title=Nobel prize for medicine shared by scientists for work on ageing and cancer|newspaper=The Guardian|date=5 October 2009|access-date=15 January 2010|location=London|first=Ian|last=Sample|archive-date=13 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113060257/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/05/nobel-prize-medicine-2009-award|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ian|last=Sample|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/oct/07/physics.nobel |title=Three share Nobel prize for physics |work=The Guardian |date=7 October 2008 |access-date=10 February 2010 |location=London |archive-date=1 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601140728/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/oct/07/physics.nobel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=David Landes|url=http://www.thelocal.se/22604/20091012/|title=Americans claim Nobel economics prize|work=Thelocal.se|date=12 October 2009|access-date=15 January 2010|archive-date=20 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120105624/http://www.thelocal.se/22604/20091012/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/press.html |title=The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics |publisher=Nobel Foundation |date=6 October 2009 |access-date=10 February 2010 |archive-date=19 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119013135/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/press.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Ceremony and banquet ===
The awards are bestowed at a gala ceremony followed by a banquet.<ref name="local">{{cite news|url=http://www.thelocal.se/23784/20091210/ |title=Pomp aplenty as winners gather for Nobel gala |date=10 December 2009 |work=The Local |access-date=22 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215055502/http://www.thelocal.se/23784/20091210/ |archive-date=15 December 2009 }}</ref> The Nobel Banquet is an extravagant affair with the menu, planned months ahead of time, kept secret until the day of the event. The Nobel Foundation chooses the menu after tasting and testing selections submitted by selected chefs of international repute. Currently, it is a three-course dinner, although it was originally six courses in 1901. Each Nobel Prize laureate may bring up to 16 guests. Sweden's royal family attends, and typically the Prime Minister and other members of the government attend as well as representatives of the Nobel family.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_nobel-laureates-dinner-banquet-tomorrow-at-stokholm-city-hall_1321860 |title = Nobel Laureates dinner banquet tomorrow at Stokholm [sic] City Hall |date = 9 December 2009 |work = DNA |access-date = 18 June 2010 |archive-date = 21 January 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120121030656/http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_nobel-laureates-dinner-banquet-tomorrow-at-stokholm-city-hall_1321860 |url-status = live }}</ref>

== Laureates ==
{{Main list|List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine}}
[[File:Emil von Behring sitzend.jpg|thumb|right|[[Emil von Behring]] received the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901.<ref name="Feldman242">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], p. 242</ref>]]

The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1901 to the German physiologist [[Emil Adolf von Behring]].<ref name="Feldman242">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], p. 242</ref> Behring's discovery of [[serum therapy]] in the development of the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines put "in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1901/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901 Emil von Behring |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 1 July 2010 |archive-date = 16 July 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070716232500/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1901/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Behring">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/behring/index.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080513155541/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/behring/index.html |archive-date = 13 May 2008 |title = Emil von Behring: The Founder of Serum Therapy |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 1 July 2010}}</ref> In 1902, the award went to [[Ronald Ross]] for his work on malaria, "by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1902/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902 Ronald Ross |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 20 June 2010 |archive-date = 8 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180708162756/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1902/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref> He identified the mosquito as the transmitter of malaria, and worked tirelessly on measures to prevent malaria worldwide.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/510100/Sir-Ronald-Ross |title = Sir Ronald Ross |encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date = 20 June 2010 |archive-date = 15 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100715111654/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/510100/Sir-Ronald-Ross |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1902/ross-bio.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902 Ronald Ross |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 21 June 2010 |archive-date = 29 April 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120429234011/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1902/ross-bio.html |url-status = live }}</ref> The 1903 prize was awarded to [[Niels Ryberg Finsen]], the first Faroese laureate, "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially [[lupus vulgaris]], with [[phototherapy|concentrated light radiation]], whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1903 Niels Ryberg Finsen |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 1 July 2010 |archive-date = 8 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180708192441/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/press.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1903 Niels Ryberg Finsen – Award Ceremony Speech |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 1 July 2010 |archive-date = 16 October 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101016133338/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/press.html |url-status = live }}</ref> He died within a year after receiving the prize at the age of 43.<ref name="finsen">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/finsen-bio.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1903 Niels Ryberg Finsen – Biography |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 21 June 2010 |archive-date = 2 June 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170602002958/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/finsen-bio.html |url-status = live }}</ref>
[[Ivan Pavlov]], whose work Nobel admired and supported, received the prize in 1904 for his work on the physiology of [[digestion]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904 Ivan Pavlov |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 16 June 2010 |archive-date = 8 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180708163017/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Lorenz and Tinbergen1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nikolaas Tinbergen]] (left) and [[Konrad Lorenz]] (right) were awarded (with [[Karl von Frisch]]) for their discoveries concerning animal behaviour.<ref name="nobel-1973">{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1973/index.html |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973 |access-date=28 July 2007 |publisher=Nobel Foundation |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708192529/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1973/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Subsequently, those selecting the recipients have exercised wide latitude in determining what falls under the umbrella of Physiology or Medicine. The awarding of the prize in 1973 to [[Nikolaas Tinbergen]], [[Konrad Lorenz]], and [[Karl von Frisch]] for their observations of animal behavioural patterns could be considered a prize in the [[behavioural sciences]] rather than medicine or physiology.<ref name="Levinovitz112" /> Tinbergen expressed surprise in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech at "the unconventional decision of the Nobel Foundation to award this year's prize 'for Physiology or Medicine' to three men who had until recently been regarded as 'mere animal watchers'".<ref name="Tinbergen">{{cite journal |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1973/tinbergen-lecture.pdf |title = Ethology and Stress Diseases |last = Tinbergen |first = Nikolaas |journal = Science |date = 12 December 1973 |volume = 185 |issue = 4145 |pages = 20–7 |publisher = Nobel Foundation |doi = 10.1126/science.185.4145.20 |pmid = 4836081 |access-date = 16 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090327093737/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1973/tinbergen-lecture.pdf |archive-date = 27 March 2009 |url-status = dead}}</ref>

[[File:Gerty Theresa Cori.jpg|upright|thumb|In 1947, [[Gerty Cori]] was the first woman to be awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine.]]

Laureates have been awarded the Nobel Prize in a wide range of fields that relate to physiology or medicine. {{As of|2010}}, eight Prizes have been awarded for contributions in the field of [[signal transduction]] through [[G protein]]s and [[second messenger]]s. 13 have been awarded for contributions in the field of [[neurobiology]]<ref name="nervesignaling">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/nerve_signaling.html |title = Nobel Prizes in Nerve Signaling |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 16 June 2010 |archive-date = 19 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100619102046/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/nerve_signaling.html |url-status = live }}</ref> and 13 have been awarded for contributions in [[Metabolism|Intermediary metabolism]].<ref>{{cite web | title = The Nobel Prize Awarders | publisher = Nobel Foundation | url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/lindsten-ringertz-rev/index.html | access-date = 21 November 2008 | archive-date = 3 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203130152/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/articles/lindsten-ringertz-rev/index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The 100 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to 195 individuals through 2009.<ref name="factsmedprize">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/shortfacts.html |title = Facts on the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 19 June 2010 |archive-date = 25 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100725010741/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/shortfacts.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="prizefacts"/>

Thirteen women have received the prize: [[Gerty Cori]] (1947), [[Rosalyn Yalow]] (1977), [[Barbara McClintock]] (1983), [[Rita Levi-Montalcini]] (1986), [[Gertrude B. Elion]] (1988), [[Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard]] (1995), [[Linda B. Buck]] (2004), [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]] (2008), [[Elizabeth H. Blackburn]] (2009), [[Carol W. Greider]] (2009), [[May-Britt Moser]] (2014), [[Tu Youyou]] (2015) and [[Katalin Karikó]] (2023).<ref>{{cite web |title = Women Nobel Laureates |publisher = Nobel Foundation |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/women.html |access-date = 1 May 2018 |archive-date = 28 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160528112058/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/women.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Only one woman, Barbara McClintock, has received an unshared prize in this category, for the discovery of genetic [[transposon|transposition]].<ref name="factsmedprize" /><ref name="McClintock">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1983/mcclintock.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1983 Barbara McClintock |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 21 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100608225942/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1983/mcclintock.html |archive-date = 8 June 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref>

[[Mario Capecchi]], [[Martin Evans]], Lucas Pu, and [[Oliver Smithies]] were awarded the prize in 2007 for the discovery of a [[gene targeting]] procedure (a type of [[genetic recombination]]) for introducing [[homologous recombination]] in mice, employing [[embryonic stem cell]]s through the development of the [[knockout mouse]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/inwinnerdex.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007 Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans, Oliver Smithies |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 20 June 2010 }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Hansson">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/adv.html |title = The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Advanced Information |last = Hansson |first = Göran K |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 26 June 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101016091331/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/adv.html |archive-date = 16 October 2010}}</ref> In 2009, the Nobel Prize was awarded to [[Elizabeth Blackburn]], [[Carol W. Greider]] and [[Jack W. Szostak]] of the United States for discovering the process by which [[chromosome]]s are protected by [[telomere]]s (regions of repetitive [[DNA]] at the ends of chromosomes) and the enzyme [[telomerase]].<ref name="Wade">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06nobel.html |title = 3 Americans Share Nobel for Medicine |last = Wade |first = Nicholas |date = 5 October 2009 |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date = 22 June 2010 |archive-date = 19 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100619055249/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06nobel.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

Rita Levi-Montalcini, an Italian [[neurology|neurologist]], who together with colleague [[Stanley Cohen (doctor)|Stanley Cohen]], received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of [[Nerve growth factor|Nerve growth factor (NGF)]], was the first Nobel laureate to reach the 100th birthday.<ref name="prizefacts">{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/nobelprize_facts.html |title=Nobel Prize Facts |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202025710/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/nobelprize_facts.html |archive-date=2 February 2007 }}</ref>

There have been 38 times when the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to a single individual, 31 times when it was shared by two, and 33 times there were three laureates (the maximum allowed).

=== Time factor and death ===
[[File:RMSt.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Ralph M. Steinman]] was an inadvertent posthumous recipient of the Prize.]]

Because of the length of time that may pass before the significance of a discovery becomes apparent, some prizes are awarded many years after the initial discovery. [[Barbara McClintock]] made her discoveries in 1944, before the structure of the DNA molecule was known; she was not awarded the prize until 1983. Similarly, in 1916 [[Peyton Rous]] discovered the role of tumor viruses in chickens, but was not awarded the prize until 50 years later, in 1966.<ref name="Levinovitz114">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 114</ref>
<!-- The 2008 award was shared by [[Harald zur Hausen]], who discovered the connection  between the [[human papillomavirus]] and [[cervical cancer]], and [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]] and [[Luc Montagnier]] who jointly discovered [[HIV|the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)]].<ref name="harmon" /> -->
Nobel laureate [[Carol Greider]]'s research leading to the prize was conducted over 20 years before. She noted that the passage of time is an advantage in the medical sciences, as it may take many years for the significance of a discovery to become apparent.<ref name="Dreifus">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/13conv.html?_r=1&ref=nobel_prizes |title = On Winning a Nobel Prize in Science |last = Dreifus |first = Claudia |date = 12 October 2009 |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date = 22 June 2010 |archive-date = 13 January 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120113163315/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/13conv.html?_r=1&ref=nobel_prizes |url-status = live }}</ref> <!-- -The 2009 award in medicine was the first in the Nobel Prize's history that more than one woman has been the recipient of the Nobel Prize in a single year.<ref name="harmon">{{cite magazine |url = http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nobel-prize-medicine-2009-genetics |title = Work on Telomeres Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 3 U.S. Genetic Researchers (Update)  |last = Harmon |first = Katherine |date = 5 October 2009 |magazine = Scientific American |access-date = 16 June 2010}}</ref> It is also the first time two women have been awarded the Physiology or Medicine prize.<ref name="discoverynews">{{cite web |url = http://news.discovery.com/human/nobel-prize-medicine.html |title = Cancer researchers win the Nobel Prize in medicine |date = 5 October 2009 |publisher = Discovery News |access-date = 22 June 2010}}</ref>- -->

In 2011, Canadian immunologist [[Ralph M. Steinman]] was awarded the prize; however, unbeknownst to the committee, he had died three days before the announcement. The committee decided that since the prize was awarded "in good faith," it would be allowed to stand.

=== Controversial inclusions and exclusions ===
{{Main|Nobel Prize controversies}}

Some of the awards have been controversial. The person who was deserving of the 1923 prize for the discovery of [[insulin]] as a central hormone for controlling diabetes (awarded only a year after its discovery)<ref name="Judson291">{{cite book |last = Judson |first = Horace |title = The great betrayal: fraud in science |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Dhz_u1hgDmoC |year = 2004 |publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn = 978-0-15-100877-3 |page = 291 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> has been heatedly debated. It was shared between [[Frederick Banting]] and [[John Macleod (physiologist)|John Macleod]]; this infuriated Banting who regarded Macleod's involvement as minimal. Macleod was the department head at the [[University of Toronto]] but otherwise was not directly involved in the findings. Banting thought his laboratory partner [[Charles Best (medical scientist)|Charles Best]], who had shared in the laboratory work of discovery, should have shared the prize with him as well. In fairness, he decided to give half of his prize money to Best. Macleod on his part felt the biochemist [[James Collip]], who joined the laboratory team later, deserved to be included in the award and shared his prize money with him.<ref name="Judson291"/> Some maintain that [[Nicolae Paulescu]], a Romanian professor of physiology at the [[Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy|University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest]], was the first to isolate insulin, in 1916, although his pancrein was an impure aqueous extract unfit for human treatment similar to the one used previously by Israel Kleiner.<ref name="J. Nutrition 92">{{cite journal |url = http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/92/4/507.pdf |author = The American Institute of Nutrition |title = Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Nutrition |journal = Journal of Nutrition |volume = 92 |year = 1967 |page = 509 |access-date = 14 June 2012 |archive-date = 10 July 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200710113225/https://jn/article-abstract/92/4/507/4778409?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="nrjs">{{Cite journal |last = Paulesco |first =  N. C. |journal = Archives Internationales de Physiologie |title = Recherche sur le rôle du pancréas dans l'assimilation nutritive. |volume = 17 |pages = 85–103 |date = 31 August 1921}}</ref><ref name="nrps">{{Cite journal |last = Lestradet |first = H. |journal = Diabetes & Metabolism |title = Le 75e anniversaire de la découverte de l'insuline |volume = 23 |issue = 1 |page = 112 |year = 1997 |url = http://www.em-consulte.com/en/article/79613 |access-date = 1 September 2011 |archive-date = 11 October 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151011134251/http://www.em-consulte.com/en/article/79613 |url-status = live }}</ref> When Banting published the paper that brought him the Nobel,<ref name="nrks">{{Cite journal |vauthors = Banting FG, Best CH |journal = Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine |title = The internal secretion of pancreas |volume = 7 |pages = 251–266 |year = 1922 |url = http://www.biology.buffalo.edu/courses/bio130/medler/banting.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100623223114/http://www.biology.buffalo.edu/courses/bio130/medler/banting.pdf |archive-date = 23 June 2010}}</ref> Paulescu already held a patent for his discovery (10 April 1922, patent no. 6254 (8322) "Pancreina şi procedeul fabricaţiei ei"/"Pancrein and the process of making it", from the Romanian Ministry of Industry and Trade).<ref name="nrms">{{Cite journal |last =  Murray |first =  Ian |journal = Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences |title =  Paulesco and the Isolation of Insulin|volume= 26|issue= 2 |pages= 150–157 |year = 1971 |pmid = 4930788 |doi = 10.1093/jhmas/XXVI.2.150}}</ref><ref name="nrns">{{Cite journal |last = Murray |first = Ian |journal = Scottish Medical Journal |title = The search for insulin |volume = 14 |issue = 8 |pages = 286–293 |year = 1969|pmid= 4897848|doi = 10.1177/003693306901400807 |s2cid = 44831000 }}</ref><ref name="nrqs">{{cite book |last=Pavel |first=I. |title=The Priority of N.C. Paulescu in the Discovery of Insulin |publisher=Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania |location=Bucharest |year=1976 |trans-title=Prioritatea lui N.C. Paulescu în descoperirea insulinei |oclc=4667283 |asin=B0000EH6G0}}</ref>

The Spanish neurophysiologist Fernando de Castro (1896–1967) was the first to describe arterial [[chemoreceptors]] and circumscribe them to the carotid body for the respiratory reflexes in 1926–1928. For many experts, this direct disciple of Santiago Ramón y Cajal deserved to share the Nobel Prize 1938 with the awarded Corneille Heymans, but at that time Spain was immersed in the Spanish Civil War and it seems that the Nobel Board even doubted if he was alive or not, being at the front since almost the beginning of the conflict. Heymans himself recognised the merits of De Castro for the Nobel Prize in different occasions, including a famous talk in Montevideo (Uruguay).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Constancio |last2=Conde |first2=Silvia V. |last3=Gallego-Martín |first3=Teresa |last4=Olea |first4=Elena |last5=Gonzalez-Obeso |first5=Elvira |last6=Ramirez |first6=Maria |last7=Yubero |first7=Sara |last8=Agapito |first8=Maria T. |last9=Gomez-Niñno |first9=Angela |last10=Obeso |first10=Ana |last11=Rigual |first11=Ricardo |last12=Rocher |first12=Asunción |title=Fernando de Castro and the discovery of the arterial chemoreceptors |journal=Frontiers in Neuroanatomy |date=12 May 2014 |volume=8 |pages=25 |doi=10.3389/fnana.2014.00025 |pmid=24860435 |pmc=4026738 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Montagnier-Barré-Sinoussi-zur Hausen-press conference Dec 06th, 2008-1.jpg|thumb|Scandal and controversy resulted from the 2008 award to [[Harald zur Hausen]] for the discovery of [[Human papillomavirus infection|HPV]], and to [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]] and [[Luc Montagnier]] for discovering [[Human immunodeficiency virus|HIV]].]]

In 1949, despite protests from the medical establishment, the Portuguese neurologist [[António Egas Moniz]] received the Physiology or Medicine Prize for his development of the [[prefrontal leucotomy]], which he promoted by declaring the procedure's success just 10 days postoperative. Due largely to the publicity surrounding the award, it was prescribed without regard for modern [[medical ethics]]. Favourable results were reported by such publications as ''[[The New York Times]]''. It is estimated that around 40,000 lobotomies were performed in the United States before the procedure's popularity faded.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness |last = El-Hai |first = Jack |year = 2005 |publisher = Wiley |isbn = 978-0-471-23292-6 |page = [https://archive.org/details/lobotomistmaveri0000elha/page/14 14] |url = https://archive.org/details/lobotomistmaveri0000elha/page/14 }}</ref> [[Rosemary Kennedy]], the sister of [[John F. Kennedy]], was subjected to the procedure by [[Joseph Kennedy|their father]]; it incapacitated her to the extent that she needed to be institutionalised for the rest of her life.<ref name="Feldman287">[[#Feldman|Feldman]], p. 287</ref><ref>{{cite news |last = Day |first = Elizabeth |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/jan/13/neuroscience.medicalscience |title = He was bad, so they put an ice pick in his brain... |newspaper = The Guardian |access-date = 31 March 2010 |date = 12 January 2008 |archive-date = 20 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131020075415/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/jan/13/neuroscience.medicalscience |url-status = live }}</ref>

The 1952 prize, awarded solely to [[Selman Waksman]] for his discovery of [[streptomycin]], omitted the recognition some felt due to his co-discoverer [[Albert Schatz (scientist)|Albert Schatz]].<ref name="pharmj">{{cite journal|last=Ainsworth |first=Steve |title=Streptomycin: arrogance and anger |journal=The Pharmaceutical Journal |volume=276 |year=2006 |pages=237–238 |url=http://www.pharmj.com/pdf/articles/pj_20060225_streptomycin.pdf |access-date=22 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621142735/http://www.pharmj.com/pdf/articles/pj_20060225_streptomycin.pdf |archive-date=21 June 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Wainwright">Wainwright, Milton ''"A Response to William Kingston, "Streptomycin, Schatz versus Waksman, and the balance of Credit for Discovery""'', Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences – Volume 60, Number 2, April 2005, pp. 218–220, Oxford University Press.</ref> There was litigation brought by Schatz against Waksman over the details and credit of the streptomycin discovery; Schatz was awarded a substantial settlement, and, together with Waksman, Schatz was to be officially recognised as a co-discoverer of streptomycin as concerned patent rights. He is not a Nobel Prize laureate.<ref name="pharmj" />

The 1962 Prize awarded to [[James D. Watson]], [[Francis Crick]], and [[Maurice Wilkins]]—for their work on [[DNA]] structure and properties—did not recognise contributing work from others, such as [[Alec Stokes]] and [[Herbert Wilson]]. In addition, [[Erwin Chargaff]], [[Oswald Avery]], and [[Rosalind Franklin]] (whose key DNA [[x-ray crystallography]] work was the most detailed yet least acknowledged among the three)<ref name="franklin">{{cite web |url = http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/KR/Views/Exhibit/narrative/dna.html |title = The Rosalind Franklin Papers |last = U.S. National Library of Medicine |work = The DNA Riddle: King's College, London, 1951–1953 |publisher = USA.gov |access-date = 19 June 2010 |archive-date = 18 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100618060720/http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/KR/Views/Exhibit/narrative/dna.html |url-status = live }}</ref>{{page needed |date = March 2015}} contributed directly to the ability of Watson and Crick to solve the structure of the DNA molecule. Avery died in 1955, Franklin died in 1958 and [[Nobel Prize#Posthumous nominations|posthumous nominations]] for the Nobel Prize are not permitted. Files of Nobel Prize nominations show Franklin was not nominated when she was alive.<ref name="Fredholm">{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/dna_double_helix/readmore.html |title = The Discovery of the Molecular Structure of DNA – The Double Helix |last = Fredholm |first = Lotta |date = 30 September 2003 |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 16 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100619185453/http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/dna_double_helix/readmore.html |archive-date = 19 June 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref> As a result of Watson's misrepresentations of Franklin and her role in the discovery of the double helix in his book ''[[The Double Helix]]'', Franklin has come to be portrayed as a classic victim of sexism in science.<ref name="Holt">{{Cite magazine |url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/10/28/021028crbo_books |title = Photo Finish: Rosalind Franklin and the great DNA race. |magazine = The New Yorker |last = Holt |first = Jim |date = 28 October 2002 |access-date = 19 June 2010 |archive-date = 3 November 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101103024725/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/10/28/021028crbo_books |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title = The double helix and the 'wronged heroine' |author = Brenda Maddox |journal = Nature |volume = 421 |pages = 407–408 |date = 23 January 2003 |pmid = 12540909 |doi = 10.1038/nature01399 |issue = 6921 |bibcode = 2003Natur.421..407M |s2cid = 4428347 |doi-access = free }}</ref> Chargaff, for his part, was not quiet about his exclusion from the prize, bitterly writing to other scientists about his disillusionment regarding the field of molecular biology.<ref name="nytimesnobel">{{cite news |title = No Nobel Prize for Whining |author = Judson, Horace |date = 20 October 2003 |url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C02E4DE123EF933A15753C1A9659C8B63 |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date = 23 June 2010 |archive-date = 22 January 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090122060851/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C02E4DE123EF933A15753C1A9659C8B63 |url-status = live }}</ref>

The 2008 award went to [[Harald zur Hausen]] in recognition of his discovery that [[Human papillomavirus infection|human papillomavirus]] (HPV) can cause [[cervical cancer]], and to [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]] and [[Luc Montagnier]] for discovering the [[human immunodeficiency virus]] (HIV).<ref>{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2008/index.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 Harald zur Hausen, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier |publisher = Nobel Foundation |access-date = 20 June 2010 |archive-date = 9 August 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180809235758/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2008/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Whether [[Robert Gallo]] or Luc Montagnier deserved more credit for the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS has been a matter of [[Robert Gallo#HIV/AIDS research|considerable controversy]]. As it was, Gallo was left out and not awarded a prize.<ref name="science nobel">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cohen J, Enserink M |title = Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. HIV, HPV researchers honoured, but one scientist is left out |journal = Science |volume = 322 |issue = 5899 |pages = 174–5 |date = October 2008 |pmid=18845715 |doi = 10.1126/science.322.5899.174|s2cid = 206582472 |doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Enserink |first = Martin |author2 = Jon Cohen |date = 6 October 2008 |title = Nobel Prize Surprise |journal = Science Now |url = http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2008/10/06-01.html |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101212065201/http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2008/10/06-01.html |archive-date = 12 December 2010}}</ref> Additionally, there was a scandal when it was learned that Harald zur Hausen was being investigated for having a financial interest in vaccines for the cervical cancer that HPV can cause. [[AstraZeneca]], which had a stake in two lucrative HPV vaccines could benefit financially from the prize, had agreed to sponsor Nobel Media and Nobel Web. According to Times Online, two senior figures in the selection process that chose zur Hausen also had strong links with AstraZeneca.<ref name="AstraZeneca">{{cite news |url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5367941.ece |title = AstraZeneca row as corruption claims engulf Nobel prize |last = Charter |first = David |date = 19 December 2008 |work = [[The Sunday Times]] |location = London  |access-date = 22 June 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081219181143/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5367941.ece |archive-date = 19 December 2008}}</ref>

=== Limits on number of awardees ===
The provision that restricts the maximum number of nominees to three for any one prize, introduced in 1968, has caused considerable controversy.<ref name="Levinovitz17" /><ref name="Levinovitz61">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 61</ref> From the 1950s onward, there has been an increasing trend to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to more than one person. There were 59 people who received the prize in the first 50 years of the last century, while 113 individuals received it between 1951 and 2000. This increase could be attributed to the rise of the international scientific community after World War II, resulting in more persons being responsible for the discovery, and nominated for, a particular prize. Also, current biomedical research is more often carried out by teams rather than by scientists working alone, making it unlikely that any one scientist, or even a few, is primarily responsible for a discovery;<ref name="bishop" /> this has meant that a prize nomination that would have to include more than three contributors is automatically excluded from consideration.<ref name="Levinovitz114" /> Also, deserving contributors may not be nominated at all because the restriction results in a cut-off point of three nominees per prize, leading to controversial exclusions.<ref name="Lindsten" />

== Years without awards ==
There have been nine years in which the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was not awarded (1915–1918, 1921, 1925, 1940–1942). Most of these occurred during either [[World War I]] (1914–1918) or [[World War II]] (1939–1945).<ref name="prizefacts"/> In 1939, [[Nazi Germany]] forbade [[Gerhard Domagk]] from accepting his prize.<ref name="Levinovitz23">[[#Levinovitz|Levinovitz]], p. 23</ref> He was later able to receive the diploma and medal but not the money.<ref name="prizefacts" /><ref>{{cite book |last = Wilhelm |first = Peter |title = The Nobel Prize |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CNnZKHxQpO4C |year = 1983 |publisher = Springwood Books |isbn = 978-0-86254-111-8 |page = 85 |access-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200608122245/https://books.google.com/books?id=CNnZKHxQpO4C |url-status = live }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of medicine awards]]
* [[List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xnckeeTICn0C |last = Feldman |first = Burton |title = The Nobel prize: a history of genius, controversy, and prestige |publisher = Arcade Publishing |year = 2001 |isbn = 978-1-55970-592-9 |ref = Feldman |access-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-date = 26 September 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200926111502/https://books.google.com/books?id=xnckeeTICn0C |url-status = live }}
* {{cite book |last = Levinovitz |first = Agneta Wallin |title = The Nobel Prize: The First 100 Years |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QMSg5mRJiukC |editor = Nils Ringertz |year = 2001 |publisher = [[Imperial College Press]] and [[World Scientific|World Scientific Publishing]] |isbn = 978-981-02-4664-8 |ref = Levinovitz |access-date = 8 June 2020 |archive-date = 28 August 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200828070030/https://books.google.com/books?id=QMSg5mRJiukC |url-status = live }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last = Doherty |first = Peter |title = The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: Advice for Young Scientists |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VqFnARWKeKUC&q=Nobel+prize |year = 2008 |publisher = Columbia University Press |isbn = 978-0-231-13897-0}}
* {{cite book |last = Leroy |first = Francis |title = A century of Nobel Prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8DjwaFWE4fYC |year = 2003 |publisher = CRC Press |isbn = 978-0-8247-0876-4 |ref = Leroy}}
* {{cite book|last1=Rifkind|first1=David |last2=Freeman|first2= Geraldine L. |title = The Nobel Prize winning discoveries in infectious diseases |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d3wdy3b9VUkC |year = 2005 |publisher = Academic Press |isbn = 978-0-12-369353-2}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine}}
{{Scholia|award}}
* [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-laureates-in-physiology-or-medicine/ All Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine] at the Nobel Foundation.
* [http://nobelprize.org Official site of the Nobel Foundation.]
* Graphics: National Medicine Nobel Prize shares 1901–2009 [http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/med.html by citizenship at the time of the award] and [http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/mednat.html by country of birth]. From [[Jürgen Schmidhuber|J. Schmidhuber]] (2010), [https://web.archive.org/web/20140327012415/http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/nobelshare.html Evolution of National Nobel Prize Shares in the 20th Century] at [https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.2634 arXiv:1009.2634v1]

{{Nobel Medicine}}
{{Nobel Prizes}}
{{Branches of biology}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine| ]]
[[Category:Nobel Prize|*Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:Karolinska Institute]]
[[Category:Medicine awards]]