Peter C. Doherty
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Peter C. Doherty
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1996
Born: 15 October 1940, Brisbane, Australia
Affiliation at the time of the award: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
When the body's cells are attacked by viruses, the immune system begins killing the infected cells. By studying mice, Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel proved in 1973 how the immune system recognises virus-ridden cells. A kind of white blood cell, the T-cell, kills the virus-ridden cells, but only if it recognises both the foreign substances, viruses, and certain substances from the body's own cells. The discovery has provided an important basis for producing vaccines and medicines against infectious diseases, and also for treating and understanding inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Inside the mind of a medicine laureate
Perspectives on life
The benefits of being an outsider
Ever wondered how Nobel Prize laureates think about the world? This video tells how 1996 medicine laureate Peter Doherty's unconventional career made it possible to see things with fresh eyes.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
