Nobel Prize

Carol Greider achieved success in molecular biology in the same way she overcame dyslexia as a child: with persistence and creativity. She discovered telomerase, an enzyme that is key to the ageing process and the growth of cancer cells, and has major implications for medical research.

Ever since she was a girl, Ada Yonath has set herself seemingly impossible goals, and then figured out how to reach them, step by step. As a young scientist she took on a challenge that others considered hopeless – mapping the structure of the ribosome – and persevered for decades until she succeeded. Her determination and ingenuity allowed researchers to see and understand the complex and crucial molecule. And since the ribosome is a major bacterial target for antibiotics, her work has led to new antibiotics and a better understanding of antibiotic resistance.

Elizabeth Blackburn has evolved from a self-described “lab rat” to an explorer in the realms of health and public policy. She discovered the molecular structure of telomeres and co-discovered the enzyme telomerase, essential pieces in the puzzle of cellular division and DNA replication.

Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Barack H. Obama. Full name: Barack Hussein ObamaBorn: 4 August 1961, Honolulu, HI, USADate awarded: 9 October 2009 Trust in change Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii, on 4 August, 1961. His mother was from…

Nobel Prize Conversations “The way you do science should have an intrinsic beauty to it” In this conversation, conducted in October 2021, Elizabeth Blackburn speaks openly about the value of science and how better to engage others in its importance – and beauty. Also up for discussion is our current climate crisis, as Blackburn has…

Interview with the 2009 Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak. The interviewer is Adam Smith, Editor-in-Chief of Nobelprize.org. Jack Szostak, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider – welcome to Stockholm. All: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here. Your Nobel Prize is of course associated with…

Interview with the 2009 Laureates in Economic Sciences Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson on 6 December 2009. The interviewer is Adam Smith, Editor-in-Chief of Nobelprize.org. Oliver Williamson, Elinor Ostrom welcome to Stockholm and to this interview with, unfortunately, Adam Smith. Oliver Williamson: It’s our pleasure. Elinor Ostrom: Our great pleasure. I think when I…

If you’re reading this online, and if you have just been surveying portraits of the new Nobel Laureates, then it’s safe to say that you’re benefitting directly from the two achievements rewarded with the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics. The optical fibers along which this Speed read is travelling, and the digital imaging which underlies…

The 2009 Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences is concerned with the basic question of where best to conduct transactions; in the open market, within firms, or among self-regulating groups of individuals. Elinor Ostrom has made extensive studies of the management of common property by groups of common owners, contrasting that with management by state…

Incumbent Presidents have quite frequently been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. US Presidents and were Laureates while in office, as for instance, were Presidents of the USSR and of South Korea. There have also been current Prime Ministers ( of Israel) and Chancellors ( of the Federal Republic of Germany), but never before has…