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    October 03, 2011

2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Work on Immune System

   VOA News
   Nobel Medicine Prize winners for 2011 L to R: Bruce A. Beutler, Jules
   A. Hoffman and Ralph M. Steinman
   Nobel Medicine Prize winners for 2011 L to R: Bruce A. Beutler, Jules
   A. Hoffman and Ralph M. Steinman

   The [1]2011 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three
   scientists for their work increasing understanding of the immune
   system.
   The award, announced Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, went to Bruce Beutler
   of the United States, Jules Hoffmann of Luxembourg and Ralph Steinman
   of Canada. Beutler an d Hoffmann will split half the nearly $1.5
   million prize money, while Steinman receives the other half.
   They have been credited with work that could lead to new prospects for
   curing cancer and other diseases.
   The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will name the winner in physics
   Tuesday and chemistry Wednesday. An award for economics, given in
   memory of Alfred Nobel, will be announced October 10.
   The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipient will be named Friday.
   The Nobel Prizes were created by Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish
   industrialist who invented dynamite. The first Nobel Prizes were
   awarded in 1901.
   Ninety-one Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded. On 19 different
   occasions, the prize committee felt there were no nominees who met the
   criteria for the award..
   The International Committee of the Red Cross has been recognized most
   often, with three awards.
   Only one Peace laureate has declined the award. In 1973 Vietnamese
   politician Le Duc Tho, was recognized along with U.S. Secretary of
   State Henry Kissinger. Le Duc Tho declined the Nobel Peace Prize.

References

   1. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/

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