Notable Nobels

Episode 24: Parasitic Worms 2015b

This episode covers one half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Campbell and Satoshi the award “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”. Topics include the pathobiology of river blindness (also called onchocerciasis), a generous act by a major pharmaceutical company, and how a golf course in Japan gave us the drug ivermectin.  

Episode 23: Pharmacognosy - Drugs from Natural Sources 2015a

This episode covers one half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Tu Youyou. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Tu the award “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria”. Topics include Tu’s discovery of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin from an ancient Chinese text, the natural medicine movement, and the Vietnam War.

Episode 22: mRNA Vaccines 2023

This episode covers the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Karikó and Weissman the award “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”. Topics include the different historical vaccine design platforms, the development of modified mRNA and ionizable lipid nanoparticles for mRNA vaccines, and the rapid roll out of the mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Episode 21: Hepatitis C Virus 2020

This episode covers the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Alter, Houghton, and Rice the award “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”. Topics include the recognition that another hepatitis virus existed other than Hepatitis A and B viruses, the experiments that lead to the identification of the Hepatitis C virus, and antiviral drugs that cure chronic Hepatitis C virus infections. 

Episode 20: Hepatitis B Virus 1976a

This episode covers one half of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Baruch S. Blumberg. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Blumberg the award “for [his] discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases”. Topics include the unusual research route that led Blumberg to the Hepatitis B virus, the discovery of a link between Hepatitis B and liver cancer, and strategies to prevent and cure chronic Hepatitis B virus infections.

Episode 19: Cervical Cancer and HPV 2008b

This episode covers one half of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Harald zur Hausen. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give zur Hausen the award “for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer”. Topics include the use of Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer, zur Hausen’s discovery of HPV DNA in cervical cancer cells, and the development of highly effective HPV vaccines.

Episode 18: HIV/AIDS 2008a

This episode covers one half of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Montagnier and Barré-Sinoussi the award “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”. Topics include how the AIDS pandemic unfolded at the start of the 1980s, the work scientists did to discover the virus behind the pandemic, the ongoing search for an HIV vaccine, and some of the novel strategies scientists are testing to find a cure for HIV infections.

Episode 17: Retroviruses and Reverse Transcriptase 1975

This episode covers the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to David Baltimore, Renato Dulbecco, and Howard Temin. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Baltimore, Dulbecco, and Temin the award “for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell”. Topics include the identification of Rous Sarcoma Virus as the first known retrovirus, the discovery of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that can synthesize a DNA copy of a molecule of RNA, and how reverse transcriptase has become an essential tool for solving some of biology’s biggest problems.

Episode 16: Src and the Essence of Cancer 1989

This episode covers the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Bishop and Varmus the award “for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes”. Topics include Bishop and Varmus’ discovery of the first cellular proto-oncogene c-src, how the discovery of that gene lead to a fundamental shift in our understanding of the essence of cancer, and Beowulf.

Episode 15: Rous Sarcoma Virus 1966a

This episode covers one half of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Peyton Rous. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Rous the award “for his discovery of tumor-inducing viruses”. Topics include Rous’ discovery of a virus that caused cancer in chickens, how that sparked a search for cancer-causing viruses in humans, and the discovery of Epstein-Barr virus, the first virus linked to a human cancer. 

Episode 14: Polio 1954

This episode covers the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Enders, Weller, and Robbins the award “for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue”. Topics include the work that culminated in the creation of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines, the nearly completed mission to eradicate polio from the face of the earth, and the reason Franklin D. Roosevelt’s portrait is on the American dime. 

Episode 13: Yellow Fever Vaccine 1951

This episode covers the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Max Theiler. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Theiler the award “for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it”. Topics include the discovery that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos, the discovery that yellow fever is caused by a virus, and how Theiler was able to create a live-attenuated vaccine for yellow fever that we still use today.  

Episode 12: DDT - A Double Edged Sword 1948

This episode covers the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Paul Hermann Müller. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Müller the award “for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods”. Topics include the use of DDT to control the spread of insect-borne diseases, the creation of the United States CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency, and bacteria that prevent mosquitos from spreading dengue virus.

Episode 11: Antibiotics Part III - Streptomycin 1952

This episode covers the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Selman Waksman. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Waksman the award “for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis”. Topics include the isolation of streptomycin, how antibiotics work molecularly, and the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Episode 10: Antibiotics Part II – Penicillin 1945

This episode covers the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Alexander Fleming, Ernst Chain, and Howard Florey. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Fleming, Chain, and Florey the award “for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases”. Topics include Fleming’s completely accidental discovery of penicillin, how Chain and Florey turned penicillin into a global wonder drug, and some of the properties of a good antibiotic.

Episode 9: Antibiotics Part I – Sulfa Drugs 1939

This episode covers the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Gerhard Domagk. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Domagk the award “for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil.” Topics include the process Domagk used to discover prontosil, the fashion industry’s largest dye company, and Adolf Hitler.

Episode 8: Phototherapy 1903

This episode covers the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Niels Ryberg Finsen. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Finsen the award “in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.” Topics include Finsen’s use of phototherapy to cure skin infections, whether or not UV light can be used to fight coronavirus, and I use a Star Wars analogy to explain how photodynamic therapy kills cancer cells.

Episode 7: Lice and Typhus 1928

This episode covers the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Charles Jules Henri Nicolle. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Nicolle the award “for his work on typhus”. Topics include some history of typhus epidemics, the work Nicolle did to show lice transmit typhus, and the unusual biology of Rickettsia prowazekii, the bacterium that causes typhus.

Episode 6: A Nobel Blunder 1926

This episode covers the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Johannes Fibiger. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Fibiger the award “for his discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma”. This Nobel Prize has been called one of the biggest blunders made by the Karolinska Institute. Topics include Fibiger’s discovery of a roundworm he claimed caused cancer, how that claim was later shown to be false, and the importance of reproducibility in science.

Episode 5: Helicobacter pylori 2005

This episode covers the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute chose to give Marshall and Warren the prize “for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease”. Topics include the symptoms associated with gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, Marshall deliberately infecting himself with the bacterium, and current treatments for H. pylori infections. 

Episode 4: Koch's Postulates 1905

This episode covers the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Robert Koch. The Nobel Assembly chose to give Koch the award “for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis”. Koch's key contribution was the development of a set of criteria for experimentally proving that a particular microorganism causes disease. These criteria are known as Koch’s Postulates. Topics include discussion of each of the postulates, Koch's application of the postulates to tuberculosis, and some cases where the postulates break down. 

Episode 3: The Malaria Parasite 1907

This episode covers the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran. The Nobel Assembly chose to give Laveran the award “in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases". The protozoa that Laveran is most known for is the malaria parasite. Topics include Laveran’s identification of the parasite that causes malaria, a description of the life cycle of the malaria parasite, and some of the current challenges in malaria vaccine development.

Episode 2: The Deadly Mosquito 1902

This episode covers the second Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Sir Ronald Ross in 1902. The Nobel Assembly chose to give Ross the award “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.” Topics include a bit about malaria disease, the work Ross did to prove mosquitos spread malaria, and using genetically modified mosquitoes to control mosquito populations. 

Episode 1: Serum Therapy 1901

Welcome! This first episode covers the very first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded to Emil von Behring in 1901. The Nobel Assembly chose to give Behring the first award "for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria”. Topics include how Behring used serum therapy to treat diphtheria, how serum therapy is currently being used in the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, and humanized cows.