While it is difficult to predict the winner of the Nobel Prize, some groundbreaking research in the fields of biomedicine, physics and chemistry has the potential to be named by the voting committee.
The Nobel Prize was created more than a century ago by the Swedish inventor and businessman to honor groundbreaking work that can take decades to complete. This year, the Nobel Prizes in Biomedicine, Physics, and Chemistry will be announced at 4:30 p.m. on October 7, 4:45 p.m. on October 8, and 4:45 p.m. on October 9, Hanoi time.
Below are 5 studies that are considered worthy of being called “breakthroughs that lead to life changes”.
The first map of the human genome
The human genome map has had a huge impact in many fields. Image: AFP
One of the often-discussed nominees for the Nobel Prize is the mapping of the human genome, a bold project begun in 1990 and completed in 2003. The process of decoding the human genome involved an international consortium of thousands of people. researchers in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan and China. The project has a profound impact on biology, medicine and many other fields. But one reason the project has not been awarded a Nobel Prize is the huge number of people involved.
According to founder Alfred Nobel’s regulations in 1985, the award can only honor a maximum of 3 people. This is becoming increasingly challenging due to the collaborative nature of much scientific research.
Research revolutionizes obesity treatment
The Novo Nordisk facility produces GLP-1 injection. Image: Bloomberg
Development of a weight loss drug that mimics a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, has caused a stir in the health care industry over the past few years. One in eight people in the world is obese, a number that has more than doubled since 1990. This drug that helps lower blood sugar and reduce appetite has the potential to open a new era of obesity treatment. and related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
The three scientists Svetlana Mojsov, Joel Habener and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen participated in developing the drug semaglutide, which won the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, often seen as a sign of whether a breakthrough study or scientist will whether they will win a Nobel Prize or not.
Mojsov, a biochemist and associate professor at Rockefeller University, and Habener, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, helped identify and synthesize GLP-1. Knudsen, chief scientific advisor for research and development at Novo Nordisk, played a key role in helping turn the compound into an effective drug that promotes weight loss in millions of people today.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Demis Hassabis (left) and John Jumper (right) received the Breakthrough award in Los Angeles in April. Photo: Lester Cohen
AI is transforming people’s lives at unprecedented speeds. The field is vast, but two names stand out, according to David Pendlebury, director of research analysis at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information. Pendlebury determines Nobel laureates by analyzing how often their scientific papers have been cited by their peers over the years.
Two prominent names are Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, the inventors of Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold protein structure database, an AI program that decodes the 3D structure of proteins from amino acid sequences with at least 2 million researchers. around the world are using. AlphaFold serves as a Google search engine for protein structures, providing instant access to predicted models of proteins, accelerating developments in biology and other related fields.
Since the two researchers’ paper was published in 2021, it has been cited more than 13,000 times, a particularly rare number according to Pendlebury. Of the total 61 million scientific articles, only 500 have been cited more than 10,000 times.
Jumper and Hassabis are also winners of the Lasker Prize and the 2023 Breakthrough Prize. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry may be within their reach, along with researcher David Baker, director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who placed foundation for AlphaFold.
Learn about the gut microbiome
The human intestine contains countless microorganisms that can affect health. Image: Boris Roessler
Trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, live in the human body, collectively known as the human microbiome. With advances in gene sequencing over the past two decades, scientists can better understand what these microorganisms do, how they communicate with each other and interact with human cells, especially in the intestines. The field has long been worthy of Nobel recognition, according to Pendlebury.
Biologist Dr. Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis, was a pioneer in the field. Gordon worked to understand the human gut microbiome and how it impacts health, starting with research in laboratory mice. He is the lead author of a study that found that the gut microbiome contributes to the health effects of malnutrition, which affects nearly 200 million children globally. Gordon is also developing food interventions to improve gut health.
Genes cause cancer
Mary-Claire King took a photo with President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House in 2016. Photo: Drew Angerer
In the 1970s, cancer sometimes ran in families, but the popular understanding of breast cancer did not take genetic factors into account. With experience studying genetic differences between humans and chimpanzees, Mary-Claire King, now a professor of medicine and genomic sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, has a new approach.
It took King 17 years to discover and determine the role of a mutation in the BRCA1 gene in contributing to breast and uterine cancer. The discovery enables genetic testing to identify women at risk of breast cancer as well as steps to help reduce the risk, such as screening and preventative surgery.
The Nobel is an international award established by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm in 1901 based on the assets of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and businessman.
The award is given annually. In 1968, the Central Bank of Sweden established the Bank of Sweden Prize for Economic Sciences in Memory of Nobel, also known as the Nobel Prize in Economics.
The winner will receive a medal, a personal certificate and an unfixed amount of money. In 2012, the prize value was reduced from 10 million crowns to 8 million crowns because the Nobel Foundation needed to strengthen its finances. The prize value then increased to 9 million crowns in 2017 and 10 million crowns in 2020, returning to pre-2012 levels. In 2013, the science, literature and peace prizes were of similar value. 1.2 million USD even though the prize at that time was only 8 million crowns. In 2023, the author receives a bonus of 11 million Swedish crowns (986,000 USD).
From 1901 – 2023, the prize has been awarded 616 times to individuals and organizations around the world.