Three Europeans win 2008 Nobel for medicine

The Nobel Prize season began on Monday, with the announcement of the winners of Nobel prize in Medicine. This year, the award has been shared by three European scientists(two French and one German) for discovering the viruses causing AIDS and Cervical cancer. The medicine winners of the prestigious Nobel Prize were selected by Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.

While Germany's Harald zur Hausen was acknowledged for his discovery of Human Papilloma Viruses(HPV) that causes cervical cancer, the French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were acknowledged for their discovery of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which is responsible for causing AIDS. Both, HIV and HPV are silent killers.

Montagnier said, "The prize encourages us all to keep going until we reach the goal at the end of this effort."

Initially, there prevailed a long and cynical dispute between Dr Robert Galo and the French Duo over the credit for discovery of the virus causing AIDS.
In 1984, Dr Galo claimed the first ever identification of a virus that he named as H.T.L.V.-3 which was later shown to be nearly identical to the French L.A.V.(H.T.L.V. and L.A.V. now known as HIV). Nevertheless, Maria Masucci, a member of the Nobel Assembly, resolved this controversy by sayimg that there was no doubt as to who made the fundamental discoveries.

Both the discoveries have contributed greatly to the medical science. Hausen's discovery paved the way for the development of two vaccines against cervical cancer, while Sinoussi's and Montagnier's joint discovery led to blood tests for detecting infection, and anti-retroviral drugs that can prolong the lives of patients. These tests are now widely used to screen blood donations, making the blood supply safer for transfusions.

The Karolinska Institute said, "Never before has science and medicine been so quick to discover, identify the origin and provide treatment for a new disease entity."

The German scientist received half of the $1.4 million prize, while the two French researchers shared the other half. Apart from the prize money, the award includes a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec.10 which happens to be the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.

The previous year's medicine award winners were Mario Capecchi , Oliver Smithies and Briton Martin Evans from USA. Their research led to a powerful technique which could be used for manipulating genes in mice and has helped scientists study heart ailments, diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis and other diseases.