The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology goes to three American researchers Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak. Szostak graduated from McGill University. The prize is awarded for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
The Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Charles K. Kao a British-American citizen, Willard S. Boyle a Canadian and George E. Smith an American. The prize is awarded for ground breaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication and for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan a British citizen, Thomas A. Steitz an American and Ada E. Yonath from Israel. The prize is awarded for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.
The Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Herta Müller from Germany, who with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.
The Nobel Prizes in Peace has been awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Elinor Ostrom "for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons" and to Oliver E. Williamson "for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm"
For more information on the Nobel Prizes and Alfred Nobel visit:Nobelprize.orgSweden.se