Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Published: October 6, 2008
Three European scientists who discovered viruses that cause cervical cancer and AIDS share this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine.


A German virologist, Harald zur Hausen, will receive half the award for his discovery of H.P.V., the human papilloma virus, according to the announcement made on Monday by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which selects the medical winners of the prize. The discovery led to development of a vaccine against cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.

The Institute said the other half of the award will be shared equally by two French virologists, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, for discovering H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Since its discovery in 1981, AIDS has rivaled the worst epidemics in history. An estimated 25 million people have died, and 33 million more are living with H.I.V.

Dr. zur Hausen of the University of Heidelberg was cited for discovering the first H.P.V., type 16, in 1983 from biopsies of women who had cervical cancer. A year later, Dr. zur Hausen cloned H.P.V. 16 and another type, 18. The two H.P.V. types are consistently found in about 70 percent of cervical cancer biopsies throughout the world, the institute said.

Of the more than 100 human papilloma viruses now known, about 40 infect the genital tract, and 15 of them put women at high risk for cervical cancer. Papilloma viruses account for more than 5 percent of all cancers worldwide.

The Karolinska Institute said that discovery of H.I.V. by the French scientists, Dr. Barre-Sinoussi and Dr. Montagnier, led to blood tests to detect the infection and to anti-retroviral drugs that are effective in prolonging the lives of patients. The tests are now used to screen blood donations, making the blood supply safer for transfusions. The viral discovery has also led to an understanding of the natural history of H.I.V. infection in people, which ultimately leads to AIDS unless treated.

H.I.V. is a member of the lentivirus family of viruses. The French scientists were cited for identifying what is now known as H.I.V. in lymph nodes from early and late stages of the infection.

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

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, as it is formally known, was created in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish explosives inventor and manufacturer, who died in 1896. The first prizes were awarded in 1901. The other Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, literature and peace are scheduled to be announced later in the week, and the Nobel memorial prize in economics on Oct. 13.