Nobel Prizes for Medicine or Physiology, 1988-2017: A Retrospective

摘要

Objective: Previously, I had reviewed the Nobel prizes awarded for medicine or physiology from 1901 to 1987. This is a sequel in which I focus on the last 30 years of awards, beginning from 1988. Commentary: From 1988 to 2017, 69 scientists were recognized with the Nobel prizes in medicine or physiology. Among 69 laureates, eight (Gertrude Elion, Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Linda Buck, Francoise Barre-Sinnoussi, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, May-Britt Moser and Youyou Tu) were women. It is of significant interest that 19 among the 69 scientists who received the recognition between 1988 and 2017, had a Nobel laureate as a mentor or elder collaborator or career guide. Due to wise investment of the funds by the Nobel Foundation, total cash remuneration had increased substantially from US$ 390,000 in 1988 to US$ 1,000,000 in 1991 for the first time. Since 1991, with a few exceptional years, total cash remuneration had fluctuated between US$ 1 million and 1.5 million. In the past 30 years, rivalry claims of few omitted scientists in the Nobel Prize selection process have become a recurrent issue.