According to the official website of the Nobel Prize, the 2023 Nobel Prize (The Nobel Prize) will be announced one after another from October 2 to 9. Among them, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) will be announced in Sweden at 11:30 local time on October 2 (17:30 Beijing time). By then, ThePaper Technology will report and interpret the awards as soon as possible.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will be announced at 17:30 Beijing time on October 2. Image source: Nobel Prize official website
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is one of the most noble awards in the global scientific community. It was established by Swedish scientist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel through his will in 1895. It aims to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to human health and life sciences in the field of physiology or medicine. Since the first award in 1901, the award has witnessed countless breakthroughs in life sciences and medicine, and has become a scientific event that attracts global attention.
According to Nobel's will, the original five Nobel Prizes (Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace, with the Economics Prize added in 1968) are selected and awarded by different institutions. In the tradition of award order formed through years of organization and coordination, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced first among all awards in the first week of October, kicking off the "Nobel Prize Month".
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of the Swedish Karolinska Institute (Nobelförsamlingenvid Karolinska Institutet). The conference, composed of 50 professors from Karolinska Institute, meets five times a year to discuss award nominations, elect the Nobel Committee (the Nobel Committee), and vote to determine the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Prize Committee elected by the General Assembly is the main body of the work of the General Assembly. It consists of 5 permanent members with three-year terms and 10 committee members with one-year terms plus the Secretary-General of the General Assembly. It is responsible for the evaluation of nominees.
After the awards are awarded in the previous year, the Nobel Prize Committee will send nomination invitations to outstanding scientists from all over the world, and the nominations will be closed and evaluation will begin at the end of February. Each August, the committee submits the candidate list and report to the conference, which decides the final winner in October. Finally, on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death, the Nobel Prize medal and certificate will be sent to the award ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden to award the winner.
2023 Caroline Institute Nobel Prize Committee. Image source: Nobel Prize official website
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in the past decade has shown a diversified trend, covering various sub-disciplines, such as cell biology, immunology, genetics, etc. Among them, basic research accounts for the majority.
Genetic research has been a hot field in recent years. Last year's Physiology or Medicine Prize was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo, the pioneer of ancient DNA research. He sequenced the genome of the extinct modern human relatives, the Neanderthals. He not only discovered a previously unknown ancient human, but also compared the genetic differences between modern humans and ancient humans to better understand the evolution and characteristics of modern humans.
Much of the award-winning research also focuses on molecular and cell biology. These studies often focus on exploring how biomolecules within cells interact and how these molecules affect the function of biological tissues and organs. For example, research on the molecular basis of temperature and touch perception in 2021, research on cells sensing and adapting to oxygen in 2019, research on autophagy in 2016, etc. These studies have deepened our understanding of biological processes at the cellular and molecular levels.
Immunological research on viruses, cancer and infectious diseases have also occupied an important position in the physiology or medicine awards in the past decade. In 2015, Chinese scientist Professor Tu Youyou won the award for her discovery of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin. This was not only the first time a Chinese scientist won the award, but also reflected the award's focus on global health issues and recognition of major medical breakthroughs.
This year's prize in physiology or medicine is also likely to be in these fields. Such as the mRNA vaccine research of American scientists Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. They rearranged the chemical bonds on the uridine in the mRNA through mRNA modification, so that the synthetic mRNA can be safely injected into human cells. They made outstanding contributions to vaccine research and development and bought valuable time for mankind in the fight against the new coronavirus. These two scientists have also won 5 "Nobel Prize-winning" awards including the Lasker Award since 2021.
In addition, the intersection of AI (artificial intelligence) technology with life sciences and medicine has also attracted much attention. Google Deepmind scientists Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have swept a number of important life science awards in recent years, including this year's "American Nobel Prize" Lasker Award. They created a revolutionary technology that can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins - AlphaFold. They successfully solved the problem of protein structure prediction through AI and had a wide impact in many fields. They became the favorite to win this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.