Nobel Prize Award for Physiology and Medicine 1966 to 1971

About the Nobel Prize Award for Physiology and Medicine from 1966 to 1971 including the scientists Huggins and Ross, their works, and history.

PHYSIOLOGY AND MEDICINE

1966 Charles B. Huggins (1901- ), American (b. Canada)

Francis P. Rous (1879-1970), American

Work: Discovery of a cancer virus

Nobel Laureates: Huggins became a surgeon and quickly specialized in the treatment of genital and urinary disorders, particularly breast and prostate cancer. He discovered that these two most common cancers are directly linked to hormonal levels in the body. Working with rats and dogs, he found that by reducing the potency of male hormones in prostatic cancer victims, he was able to arrest the disease. This he achieved in humans through outright castration in some cases and, in others, by injecting female hormones to counteract their male counterparts.

In 1909 Dr. Rous joined the Rockefeller Institute in New York City, where he spent the rest of his career. The year he arrived at the institute, he began examining a cancerous hen, and the following year he discovered that the particular cancer present in the fowl, a cancer known as sarcoma, was a virus capable of being passed from animal to animal. The scientific community of the day pooh-poohed the idea of such a contagious cancer, but later studies corroborated Rous's findings.

Nobel Lore: As late as the 1950s, few scientists put much stock in Rous's chicken experiments. But with the discovery of other cancer viruses, the Nobel committee finally came around--56 years after Rous first focused his microscope over the truth--and acknowledged the value of his early work.

1967 Haldan Keffer Hartine (1903- ), American

George Wald (1906- ), American

Ragnar A. Granit (1900- ), Swedish (b. Finland)

Work: Discoveries concerning the physiological and chemical processes of the eye

1968 Robert W. Holley (1922- ), American

H. Gobind Khorana (1922- ), American (b. India)

Marshall W. Nirenberg (1927- ), American

Work: Discovered the role of enzymes in the genetic code, which determines the function of cells

1969 Max Delbruck (1906- ), American (b. Germany)

Alfred D. Hershey (1908- ), American

Salvador E. Luria (1912- ), American (b. Italy)

Work: Discoveries concerning the genetic structure of viruses

1970 Bernard Katz (1911- ), British

Ulf von Euler (1905- ), Swedish

Julius Axelrod (1912- ), American

Work: Discoveries concerning nerve transmission

1971 Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. (1915-1974), American

Work: Discoveries concerning the action of hormones

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