Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1989

J. Michael Bishop

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/2

Harold E. Varmus

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/2

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1989 was awarded jointly to J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus "for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes"

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1989. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2026. Tue. 21 Jul 2026. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1989/summary/>

Go to the top of the page

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.