3 Europeans share Nobel medicine prize
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
STOCKHOLM, Oct 6 (Agencies): Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.
Two French scientists who discovered the AIDS virus and a German who found the virus that causes cervical cancer were awarded the Nobel prize.
The German medical doctor and scientist received half of the 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) prize, while the two French researchers shared the other half.
Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur won half the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) for discovering the deadly virus that has killed millions of people since it was identified in the 1980s.
Harald zur Hausen of the University of Duesseldorf and a former director of the German Cancer Research Centre shared the other half of the prize for work that went against the current dogma as to the cause of cervical cancer.
"The three laureates have discovered two new viruses of great importance and the result of that has led to an improved global health," said Jan Andersson, a member of the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.
"We have reached two of the laureates, the two men, and they were both very, very happy. As far as I know Francoise has not yet been reached," Andersson told a news conference.
The award marks a vote for Montagnier in a long-running dispute over who discovered and identified the virus, Montagnier or Dr Robert Gallo, then of the US National Cancer Institute.
Two French scientists who discovered the AIDS virus and a German who found the virus that causes cervical cancer were awarded the Nobel prize.
The German medical doctor and scientist received half of the 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) prize, while the two French researchers shared the other half.
Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur won half the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) for discovering the deadly virus that has killed millions of people since it was identified in the 1980s.
Harald zur Hausen of the University of Duesseldorf and a former director of the German Cancer Research Centre shared the other half of the prize for work that went against the current dogma as to the cause of cervical cancer.
"The three laureates have discovered two new viruses of great importance and the result of that has led to an improved global health," said Jan Andersson, a member of the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.
"We have reached two of the laureates, the two men, and they were both very, very happy. As far as I know Francoise has not yet been reached," Andersson told a news conference.
The award marks a vote for Montagnier in a long-running dispute over who discovered and identified the virus, Montagnier or Dr Robert Gallo, then of the US National Cancer Institute.