Search results for ""Author Erling Norrby""

The Nobel Prizes in natural sciences have developed to become a unique measure of scientific excellence. Using archival documents, which have been released (50 years secrecy) for scholarly work, the author expertly traces the strengths and weaknesses of the Nobel system as exemplified by individual prizes. Surveys of the more than 100 years that the Prizes have been awarded are also presented.This book discusses the most important prize in the world of science and gives unique historical insights into how the laureate selection process has developed to secure optimal choice.No other book has been published which draws from previously classified archival materials to the extent that this book does. It indirectly deals with factors that foster scientific discoveries viz. the role of both individuals and institutions and thus provides invaluable insights for researchers, institutions and anyone interested in science.

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This is the third book in a series presenting Nobel Prizes in the life sciences using the remarkably rich archives of nominations and reviews which are kept secret for 50 years after the awards have been made. The two previous books are The present book discusses the prizes in physiology or medicine 1963-65. The 1963 prize recognized milestone discoveries in the field of neurosciences, the way electrical impulses are generated and spread in nerves. The impressive developments of insights into tantalizing brain functions, like consciousness and memory, is discussed in the perspective of prizes both before and after the 1963 prize. The prize in 1964 marked the advanced biochemical venture that led to a full understanding of the synthesis of cholesterol, a central molecule for providing flexibility of the membranes of the trillions of cell in our body. The importance of this molecule for the appearance of cardiovascular diseases and the possibilities to prevent them is presented in the light of other prizes earlier and later in this field. The 1965 prize recognized three impressive French intellectuals, Lwoff, Monod and Jacob. Their contributions allowed the full maturation of the initial phase of the emerging field of molecular biology. The comprehension of the information flow from DNA via RNA to proteins was the source of a revolution of life sciences and of medicine.

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The present book discusses the Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine 1966-68. The 1966 prize recognized that viruses may be involved in cancer formation. Later studies revealed that these kinds of infectious agents could pick up and transmit cellular genes of importance for regulation of cellular growth. It was then possible to recognize that many genes of this kind could be involved in the formation of cancer. The disease was found to represent the dark side of evolution. As a consequence of this insight new means of treatment fortunately have been developed.The rear parts of the eyes are extensions of the central nervous system. They have a fascinating intrinsic complexity, the neurophysiology and biochemistry of which has been progressively analyzed. These revealing studies concern both our capacity to distinguish different colors and also our possibility to see in the dark. The Prize in 1967 identified seminal contributions in this wide field by Ragnar Granit, Haldan Hartline and George Wald.The 1968 Prize is distinct in its recognition of Robert Holley, Ghobind Khorana and Marshall Nirenberg, who in different ways had contributed to the cracking of the genetic code. Insights into the language used by Nature, since the dawn of cellular life some 4.6 billion years ago, have completely revolutionized modern life sciences. The capacity to read and also to write the books of life has defined new kinds of science, deepening our understanding of the magic of evolution and opened the possibilities for molecular medicine by understanding the genetic background to diseases, not least cancer.Related Link(s)

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The present book discusses the Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine from 1969 to 1971. The 1969 prize recognized Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey and Salvador Luria. Their pioneering studies of viruses infecting bacteria, bacteriophages, from the mid-1940s through the 1950s laid the foundation for the wide field of molecular biology. The nature of the gene was finally understood. Insights into the biochemistry of the critical information molecules, the nucleic acids, opened wide vistas for interpreting their expression and the interaction of their product with other gene products.The contact between the endings of a nerve and a target cell, the synapse, has always stirred the imagination of scientists. A number of the insights gained have been highlighted by Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine. In 1970 the prize recognized Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod. They had revealed how signaling substances in the nerve terminals were stored in packages, released by membrane fusion and inactivated or reused by particular metabolic events.The recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was a single scientist, Earl Sutherland. He had identified critical molecules in cells that allow signals elicited at their surface via a number of internal steps to influence the expression of specific genes in the nucleus. The new kind of information transmitting molecules were referred to as 'secondary messengers'. They represent a critical part of a highly complex network of signaling controlling the operative conditions of the cell by adjustments of the so-called intermediary metabolism.The widening insights into functions of specialized cells and their complex interactions have led to the development of many kinds of remedies.

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The present book discusses the Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine from 1969 to 1971. The 1969 prize recognized Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey and Salvador Luria. Their pioneering studies of viruses infecting bacteria, bacteriophages, from the mid-1940s through the 1950s laid the foundation for the wide field of molecular biology. The nature of the gene was finally understood. Insights into the biochemistry of the critical information molecules, the nucleic acids, opened wide vistas for interpreting their expression and the interaction of their product with other gene products.The contact between the endings of a nerve and a target cell, the synapse, has always stirred the imagination of scientists. A number of the insights gained have been highlighted by Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine. In 1970 the prize recognized Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod. They had revealed how signaling substances in the nerve terminals were stored in packages, released by membrane fusion and inactivated or reused by particular metabolic events.The recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was a single scientist, Earl Sutherland. He had identified critical molecules in cells that allow signals elicited at their surface via a number of internal steps to influence the expression of specific genes in the nucleus. The new kind of information transmitting molecules were referred to as 'secondary messengers'. They represent a critical part of a highly complex network of signaling controlling the operative conditions of the cell by adjustments of the so-called intermediary metabolism.The widening insights into functions of specialized cells and their complex interactions have led to the development of many kinds of remedies.

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'An epic travelogue, brimming with the excitement of discovery. With characteristic panache, Venter unveils the teeming array of bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotes that crowd our planet's oceans' - Siddhartha Mukherjee'This page-turner gives . . . the thrill of seeing our planet's largest universe through the brilliant, intrepid eyes of the scientist who has done more than anyone to unlock the secrets of life' - Martine Rothblatt'A tour de force . . . Venter has expanded biology's horizons. This book explores microbial life on a global scale, providing cutting-edge solutions to problems of environmental change' - Aristides Patrinos'A ripping tale . . . to revolutionize our understanding of our bodies, the oceans, and the planet' - Jack Gilbert'An exhilarating account of how creative science is accomplished' - Sir Richard J. Roberts'[A] fascinating tour of Planet Microbe' - Bill McKibben'Venter and Duncan expand our scope of what it means to be alive' - Jamie Metzl'Inspiring ... change[s] our ideas of how biology is done' - TelegraphUpon completing his historic work on the Human Genome Project in 2002, J. Craig Venter declared that he would sequence the genetic code of all life on earth. Thus began a fifteen-year quest to collect DNA from the world's oldest and most abundant form of life: microbes. Boarding the Sorcerer II, a 100-foot sailboat turned research vessel, Venter travelled over 65,000 miles around the globe to sample ocean water and the microscopic life within.In this book, Venter and science writer David Ewing Duncan tell the remarkable story of these expeditions and of the momentous discoveries that ensued-of plant-like bacteria that get their energy from the sun, proteins that metabolize vast amounts of hydrogen, and microbes whose genes shield them from ultraviolet light. The result was a massive library of millions of unknown genes, thousands of unseen protein families, and new lineages of bacteria that revealed the unimaginable complexity of life on earth. Yet despite this exquisite diversity, Venter encountered sobering reminders of how human activity is disturbing the delicate microbial ecosystem that nurtures life on earth. In the face of unprecedented climate change, Venter and Duncan show how we can harness the microbial genome to develop alternative sources of energy, food, and medicine that might ultimately avert our destruction.A captivating story of exploration and discovery, this book restores microbes to their rightful place as crucial partners in our evolutionary past and guides to our future.

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