Radio Shows | Nobel Prizes 2008 | mp3 … wma … wav

Some research are such breakthroughs that they deserve the highest award granted to scientists.

In December both the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and in Physiology or Medicine are awarded. Each laureate receives a diploma, gold medal and a cash award in excess of one million US dollars.

The year's winners in medicine are: Harald zur Hausen of Germany for his discovery of human papilloma viruses and their ability to cause human cervical cancer. Co-awardees were the French investigators: Francoise Bare-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV.

The prize in Chemistry went to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chaifie and Roger Tsien all of the US for their discovery of Green Fluorescent protein.

This protein originally found in a jellyfish has been developed into a highly valuable tool allowing us to look at what proteins do inside a living cell all in real time.

Since the first Nobel award in 1901, seven hundred eighty nine people and 20 organizations have been given prizes. Only 35 were women. The oldest laureate was Leonid Hurwicz who was 90 and the youngest, Lawrence Bragg who at 25 shared the physics prize with his father in 1915.

Speaking of families, 6 fathers & sons, 1 father and daughter, and six husbands and wives have received prizes as well.

Now, if receiving a Nobel is the pinnacle of achievement, a few have been honored more than once. 4 people including Linus Pauling and Madame Curie have each received the prize twice and the International Red Cross three times.

This is hard to believe but two individuals have turned down their prizes; Jean-Paul Sartre who during his career declined all honors and Le Duc Tho who turned down the co-award of the Peace prize in 1973 with Henry Kissinger because of conditions in Vietnam.

We offer hearty congratulations to all of this year's awardees.

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