Last week saw the announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prizes, the most prestigious awards in the world of science. The prizes are dedicated every year to those who have made “contributions that have conferred the greatest benefits to humankind.” The Nobel Committee, responsible for deciding the laureates each year, states that for a breakthrough to merit a Nobel Prize, it must have been “tested by time.” This is designed to avoid the situation where an awarded discovery is later disproven or becomes irrelevant. Laureates will often receive the prizes decades after their work is published.
Here’s all you need to know about this year’s Nobel Prizes in the science categories.
Medicine
This year, the medicine prize was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell from the USA, and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan. The trio received the prize for their research on the immune system.
When the human body is infected with a virus, bacteria, or any other pathogen, its immune response is triggered. White blood cells are produced to attack the virus. But it has long been a mystery as to why these white blood cells don’t routinely attack ordinary cells. In 1995, Sakaguchi discovered a new type of immune cell, called the regulatory T-cell. His research, along with that of Brunkow and Ramsdell, showed that these cells travel the body and neutralise leftover white blood cells, preventing them from causing harm. Scientists now hope to use these T-cells to treat diseases. Artificially increasing their production could stop the body from attacking itself in autoimmune diseases, and after organ transplants, while artificially decreasing their presence could allow the body’s own immune system to attack harmful cancers.
Physics
In the field of physics, Brit John Clarke, American John M. Martinis, and Michael H. Devoret, from France, won the prize for creating electric circuits with quantum mechanical properties.
Quantum mechanics is a theory that describes the behaviour of the microscopic world, on a scale smaller than the atom. The theory involves many properties that appear bizarre. One such property is quantum tunnelling. This is when an object is able to move, or tunnel, through a barrier it shouldn’t ordinarily be able to pass through.
In the 1980s, the team investigated whether these properties could be induced in macroscopic electrical circuits. Experiments made it possible to demonstrate forms of quantum tunnelling in a system big enough to be held in the hand. In future, these circuits could be used to develop ultra-fast quantum computers.
Chemistry
Susumu Kitagawa from Japan, Richard Robson from the UK, and Omar M Yaghi, a Palestinian refugee who moved to the USA as a teenager, were announced as the laureates for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. They were awarded the prize for their study of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
MOFs are complex molecules made up of metal ions linked by long chains of carbon-based molecules. They have a crystal structure that is simultaneously very strong and filled with large cavities. These large cavities can be used to absorb gases.
The technology is in its early stages, but scientists hope that, one day, MOFs could be used to tackle humanity’s biggest problems, from capturing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere to harvesting water in desert environments.
It is clear that the prizes still have a problem with gender representation. This year, in the science categories, there were more laureates named John than women. Nobel laureates are an inspiration for all young scientists, and this year’s prizes cement, rather than combat, the issue of the lack of women in STEM.
The Nobel Prizes are perhaps the greatest honour a scientist can receive. These 12 laureates, along with the laureates for literature and peace, will gather in Stockholm with the world’s eyes on them. But beyond all this, each of these laureates will find their names have been forever etched into history.
Picture by AlphaTangoBravo / Alan Baker on Openers