This volume is a collection of the Nobel Lectures delivered by the prizewinners, together with their biographies and the presentation speeches at the award ceremonies in Stockholm for the period 2001 - 2005. Each Nobel Lecture is based on the work for which the laureate was awarded the prize. This volume of inspiring lectures should be on the bookshelf of every keen student, teacher and professor of physiology/medicine as well as of those in related fields.The following is a list of the Nobel laureates during 2001 - 2005 with a description of the works that won them their prizes: (2001) Leland H Hartwell, Tim Hunt & Sir Paul Nurse -- for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle; (2002) Sydney Brenner, H Robert Horvitz & John E Sulston -- for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death; (2003) Paul C Lauterbur & Sir Peter Mansfield -- for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging; (2004) Richard Axel & Linda B Buck -- for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system; (2005) Barry J Marshall & J Robin Warren -- for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

Physiology or medicine was the third prize area Alfred Nobel mentioned in his will. Nobel had an active interest in medical research. He came into contact with Swedish physiologist Jöns Johansson through Karolinska Institute around 1890. Johansson worked for a brief period in Nobel's laboratory in Sevran, France during the same year. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute. This volume is a collection of the Nobel lectures delivered by the Nobel Laureates, together with their biographies and the presentation speeches for the period 2006-2010.List of Laureates and their award citations:(2006) Andrew Z Fire and Craig C Mello — for their discovery of RNA interference-gene silencing by double-stranded RNA;(2007) Mario R Capecchi, Martin J Evans and Oliver Smithies — for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells;(2008) Harald zur Hausen — for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer, and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier — for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus;(2009) Elizabeth H Blackburn, Carol W Greider and Jack W Szostak — for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase;(2010) Robert G Edwards — for the development of in vitro fertilization.

This book brings together in one volume fifteen Nobel Prize-winning discoveries that have had the greatest impact upon medical science and the practice of medicine during the 20th century and up to the present time. Its overall aim is to enlighten, entertain and stimulate. This is especially so for those who are involved in or contemplating a career in medical research. Anyone interested in the particulars of a specific award or Laureate can obtain detailed information on the topic by accessing the Nobel Foundation''s website. In contrast, this book aims to provide a less formal and more personal view of the science and scientists involved, by having prominent academics write a chapter each about a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in their own areas of interest and expertise.

A collection of the Nobel lectures delivered by the prizewinners in physiology or medicine for the period 1996-2000. Each lecture is based on the work for which the laureate was awarded the prize. The following is a list of the Nobel laureates during 1996-2000 with a description of the works that won them their prizes: P.C. Doherty and R.M. Zinkernagel (1996) - for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence; S.B. Prusiner (1997) -for his discovery of "prisons - a new biological principle of infection"; R.F. Furchgott, L.J. Ignarro and F. Murad (1998) - for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system; G. Blobel (1999) - for the discovery that "proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell"; A. Carlsson, P. Greengard and E.R. Kandel (2000) - for their discoveries concerning "signal transduction in the nervous system".

Discusses the Nobel Institution in detail, telling about the award and its beginnings, what it means to win a Nobel Prize, the fields in which it is presented, who judges and how the prize is awarded, and more.