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Vaccine for AIDS within four years, says Nobel Prize winner
A French scientist awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering the AIDS virus immediately predicted there would be a "therapeutic vaccine'' for the disease within four years.
Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, shared half the award with Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur for their work in pinpointing the cause of the disease.
The other half was won by Harald zur Hausen of the University of Dusseldorf and a former director of the German Cancer Research Centre, for work on the cause of cervical cancer.
On receiving the honor, which comes with a cash prize of just over €1m, Montagnier, 76, said a treatment could be possible in the future with a "therapeutic'' rather than preventive vaccine for which results might be published in three or four years if financial backing is forthcoming.
A therapeutic vaccine prevents disease from flourishing after it has taken hold.
"I think it will be possible with a therapeutic vaccine rather than preventative vaccinations. We would give it to people who are already infected,'' he said.
The Nobel recognition comes 25 years after Montagnier and his team at the French Pasteur Institute, including Barre-Sinoussi, discovered HIV in his Paris laboratory.
"The discovery was one prerequisite for the current understanding of the biology of the disease and its antiretroviral treatment,'' the Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement.
The other half of the Nobel prize was awarded for the German scientist's research that "went against current dogma'' and set forth that oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) caused cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.
"His discovery has led to characterization of the natural history of HPV infection, an understanding of mechanisms of HPV-induced carcinogenesis and the development of prophylactic vaccines against HPV acquisition,'' the Assembly said.
Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.
The prizes for achievement in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
The economics prize is a later addition, established by the Swedish Riksbank in 1968.
The Nobel laureate for physics will be announced today. A French scientist awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering the AIDS virus immediately predicted there would be a "th... more -
Nobel Peace Prize May Go to Chinese Activist, Angering Beijing
Among the top contenders for this year's Nobel Peace Prize are Chinese activist Hu Jia and human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. The decision has angered officials in Beijing, who feel that it has been made into a political statement.
“I hope the committee will make the right decision and not challenge the original purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize or hurt Chinese people’s feelings,” said Liu Jianchao, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, on Sept. 25. The prize should go to those who “truly contributed” to world peace, he said.
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Hmm, peace prize is not aimed at hurting a people's feelings but awarding those who've fought for what they believe is right, for the peace and rights of others. It's the Chinese government here who is bringing politics into it. Among the top contenders for this year's Nobel Peace Prize are Chinese activist Hu Jia and human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. The... more -
2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine
Two French researchers were awarded a Nobel Prize today for discovering the AIDS virus, bypassing an American researcher who played a key role in the discovery. Two French researchers were awarded a Nobel Prize today for discovering the AIDS virus, bypassing an American researcher who played a ... more
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Nobel prize for viral discoveries
The scientists who discovered HIV will share the Nobel prize for medicine with the expert who linked human papillpoma virus (HPV) to cervical cancer.
Frenchmen Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were recognised for their groundbreaking work in uncovering the virus responsible for Aids.
Harald zur Hausen, of Germany, received the prize for making the link between the HPV and cervical cancer.
More than 25 million people have died of HIV/AIDS since 1981.
Globally, over 40 million people are living with HIV.
See rest at link The scientists who discovered HIV will share the Nobel prize for medicine with the expert who linked human papillpoma virus (HPV) to c... more -
Nobel panelist says US writers too insular and ignorant
Horace Engdah, jury member on the panel that dishes out the Nobel prize for literature says American writers are "ignorant and insular" and "out of touch with Europe," which is why they never win Nobel prizes.
Engdah is the permenant secretary of the panel which means he will have his job forever. He's been on the panel since 1999. The last American to win was Toni Morrison in 1993.
No doubt there are incredible, deserving authors all over the world. No doubt Americans have traditionally been the harbingers of mass culture, perfecting the craft. So let us say that perhaps Americans are and can be "insular". It still seems a rather narrow-minded assessment for such an enormous talent pool (Americans include immigrants too); for such a seemingly well-read man. And to use his own words: "That ignorance is restraining."
David remnick's (the new yorker) response:
"You would think that the permanent secretary of an academy that pretends to wisdom but has historically overlooked Proust, Joyce and Nabokov, to name just a few non-Nobelists, would spare us the categorical lectures.
And if he looked harder at the American scene that he dwells on, he would see the vitality in the generation of Roth, Updike and DeLillo, as well as in many younger writers, some of them sons and daughters of immigrants writing in their adopted English. None of these poor souls, old or young, seem ravaged by the horrors of Coca-Cola."
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You can get more from the link. Horace Engdah, jury member on the panel that dishes out the Nobel prize for literature says American writers are "ignorant and in... more -
Head of Nobel Literature Prize says US is "too ignorant" to Compete Rega...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the United States is too insular and ignorant to compete with Europe when it comes to great writing.
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Counters the head of the U.S. National Book Foundation: "Put him in touch with me, and I'll send him a reading list."
As the Swedish Academy enters final deliberations for this year's award, permanent secretary Horace Engdahl said it's no coincidence that most winners are European.
"Of course there is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world ... not the United States," he told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
He said the 16-member award jury has not selected this year's winner, and dropped no hints about who was on the short list. Americans Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates usually figure in speculation, but Engdahl wouldn't comment on any names.
Speaking generally about American literature, however, he said U.S. writers are "too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture," dragging down the quality of their work.
"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature," Engdahl said. "That ignorance is restraining."
His comments were met with fierce reactions from literary officials across the Atlantic.
"You would think that the permanent secretary of an academy that pretends to wisdom but has historically overlooked Proust, Joyce, and Nabokov, to name just a few non-Nobelists, would spare us the categorical lectures," said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.
"And if he looked harder at the American scene that he dwells on, he would see the vitality in the generation of Roth, Updike, and DeLillo, as well as in many younger writers, some of them sons and daughters of immigrants writing in their adopted English. None of these poor souls, old or young, seem ravaged by the horrors of Coca-Cola." STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the Un... more -
61 Nobel Laureates Endorse Barack Obama
Barack Obama's campaign today laid out a detailed science policy, including a commitment to double funding for major science agencies over the next decade. The campaign also announced that 61 Nobel laureates -- including many current and former Bay State scientists -- are endorsing Obama.
Calling the Bush Administration's science policy "disastrous," MIT professor and Nobel laureate Robert Horvitz joined a conference call to speak in support of Obama's science policy, which includes elevating the role of White House science adviser to a senior-level position and reversing the ban on using federal funds for human embryonic stem cell research on cell lines created after August 9, 2001.
"Instead of shutting scientific knowledge out of the White House, Senator Obama will engage top scientists," Horvitz said. "Instead of blocking groundbreaking efforts to use embryonic stem cell research to find cures for diseases like Parkinson's disease... Senator Obama will provide strong support to these efforts."
In a letter of endorsement, the Nobel laureates wrote that visionary science and technology policy would be essential to maintain US competitiveness. They ranged from Sheldon L. Glashow, the Harvard physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, to Craig C. Mello, the University of Massachusetts Medical School at Worcester biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006.
"Our once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk," the letter states. "We have lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve out economy."
[Credit: Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff; Barack Obama's campaign today laid out a detailed science policy, including a commitment to double funding for major science agen... more -
Laureate Videos
Nine Nobel Laureates speak on world issues.
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Nobelity:Movie trailer
A stunning look at the world’s most pressing problems through the eyes of nine Nobel Laureates, Nobelity follows filmmaker Turk Pipkin’s personal journey to find enlightening answers about the kind of world our children and grandchildren will know. Filmed across the U.S., and in France, England, India, and Africa, Nobelity Combines The Insights of nine distinguished Nobelists with a first-person view of world problems and the children who are most challenged by them. A stunning look at the world’s most pressing problems through the eyes of nine Nobel Laureates, Nobelity follows filmmaker Turk Pipkin... more
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Solzhenitsyn Dies
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian writer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature has passed away. He was 89 years old.
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn Dies
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slave labor camps, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slav... more
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies at 89
Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile, has died near Moscow at the age of 89.
The author of The Gulag Archipelago and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, who returned to Russia in 1994, died of either a stroke or heart failure. The Nobel laureate had suffered from high blood pressure in recent years. After returning to Russia, Solzhenitsyn wrote several polemics on Russian history and identity. His son Stepan was quoted by one Russian news agency as saying his father died of heart failure, while another agency quoted literary sources as saying he had suffered a stroke.
He died in his home in the Moscow area, where he had lived with his wife Natalya, at 2345 local time (1945 GMT), Stepan told Itar-Tass.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent his condolences to the writer's family, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
Solzhenitsyn served as a Soviet artillery officer in World War II and was decorated for his courage but in 1945 was denounced for criticising Stalin in a letter.
He spent the next eight years in the Soviet prison system, or Gulag, before being internally exiled to Kazakhstan, where he was successfully treated for stomach cancer.
Publication in 1962 of the novella Denisovich, an account of a day in a Gulag prisoner's life, made him a celebrity during the post-Stalin political thaw.
However, within a decade, the writer awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize for Literature was out of favour again for his work, and was being harassed by the KGB secret police.
Read more... Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile, has died nea... more -
Jane Goodall Proposes Nobel Prize for Alternatives to Animal Experimentation
Goodall, whose pioneering work with chimpanzees in the wild changed the face of ethology, said that curtailing and eventually eliminating animal research is a "goal towards which all civilized nations should be moving."
"As we move into the 21st century we need a new mindset," she told attendees of a symposium organized by animal rights groups and political leaders in the European Union. "We should admit that the infliction of suffering on beings who are capable of feeling is ethically problematic and that the amazing human brain should set to work to find new ways of testing and experimenting that will not involve the use of live, sentient beings."
In the mid-90s, the Foundation rejected a suggestion from former Vice President (and recent Nobel Prize winner) Al Gore that an award be added for contributions to environmentalism. Just as Gore's recommendation would elevate the status of environmentalism in the global community, Goodall's proposal to encourage alternatives to animal experimentation would raise awareness of and appreciation for the animal protection movement and all that it stands for. Goodall, whose pioneering work with chimpanzees in the wild changed the face of ethology, said that curtailing and eventually eliminat... more -
My Nobel prize? A "bloody disaster"
Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing told the BBC that winning the award had been a "bloody disaster" for her as a writer.
The 88-year-old author said that media attention has made writing a new novel almost impossible. She added she does not have that energy any more and that her writing ability is "sliding away like water down a plughole". She also urged younger authors to use their talent before it's too late.
Lessing — whose best-known works include "The Golden Notebook" and "The Good Terrorist" — is the 11th woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature in its 106-year history. Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing told the BBC that winning the award had been a "bloody disaster" for her as a write... more -
Barack Obama 'will die if he wins', says Doris Lessing
Nobel prize-winning author Doris Lessing fears Barack Obama will be assasinated if he becomes the first black US President.
Lessing, 88, said: "He would certainly not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would murder him."
Lessing, who won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature, said: "The best thing would be if they (Clinton and Obama) were to run together."
She told a Swedish newspaper: "Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she were to win and not Obama."
Lessing, known for her fiery statements, did not say who she thought would carry out the assassination. Nobel prize-winning author Doris Lessing fears Barack Obama will be assasinated if he becomes the first black US President. ... more -
Canadian Conservative Gov. fails to acknowlege Global Warming's impact.
Granted this blog is by a well known Canadian comedian...but I think it illustrates plainly, that there is a war on Science up here as well. It's not just George Bush whom ignores scientific truth!
The money from our Alberta Tar Sands oil refining ~a process that uses up more energy than it provides~ is just too alluring to turn down. Granted this blog is by a well known Canadian comedian...but I think it illustrates plainly, that there is a war on Science up here as... more -
Why the Honourable Mr. Gore Is Not President
Opinionated, yet informative article on why Mr. Gore is not president. Current TV is represented in this article as well (where's the mention of the Emmy though?).
To distill, Al Gore simple speaks the truth as facts. Hence, he will not be president. Nor does he wish to be. He's writing history in a much more meaningful way on his own terms. I salute you Mr. Gore. Opinionated, yet informative article on why Mr. Gore is not president. Current TV is represented in this article as well (where'... more -
Swiss Chris' Drum Solo With Electrifying Effects: A tribute to Aung San Suu K...
Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient that is in jail for speaking of freedom and democracy in Burma.
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
* Known to much of the world as "Asia's Nelson Mandela", she currently leads a popular, nonviolent freedom struggle in Burma.
* In 1990, the year of Burma's last democratic election, her political party, the National League for Democracy, won 82% of the seats in parliament; however the ruling military regime refused to recognize the results.
* One year later, in 1991, while still under house arrest and leading a non-violent struggle for democracy she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
* The regime has kept her imprisoned for 11 of the past 16 years.
* She has won over 70 major international awards for her work on behalf of the people of Burma, including: the Nobel Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize (from the European Parliament) and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In an increasingly jaded world of political apathy and power-hungry institutions, Aung San Suu Kyi is truly that rare heroine of legend - a symbol of hope - championing the rights of individuals in the face of human rights violations and dictatorial oppression. Suu Kyi continues to stand alone in defiance of an unjust and brutal military regime with grace and Gandhi-like resolve.
Throughout 11 of the past 16 years, she has struggled in obscurity, with little or no contact with the world. Due to her perseverance amid growing concern for health and well-being, a determined community of individuals from around the world have rallied in support of Suu Kyi and the plight of the Burmese people.
The video displays his innovative techniques and electronic know how along with his passion for the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi. Besides the ordinary drum kit, Swiss Chris adds electronic pads that when hit with his drumsticks, triggers a multitude of sounds and video that he's prerecorded into his mixing unit. The result is a sound thats like having a backing band, including a vocalist if he wants as well as various video of current news, historic news and just about anything he wants that he gets clearance for.
Swiss has used this technology mainly for his human rights efforts for the Freedom campaign as well as his own organization, Saving With Instruments Samples and Soundz (SWISS). Swiss Chris is also the Music Director and Drummer for 5 time Grammy winner John Legend.
More info on Swiss can be found at: www.myspace.com/swisschristhemanonthedrums Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient that is in jail for ... more -
Al Gore Accepts Nobel Prize and Calls for Climate 'Mobilization'
Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, declaring that America would ?stand accountable before history? if it failed to take action to combat climate change.
?It is time to make peace with the planet,? he said in a speech in Oslo. ?We must mobilise our civilisation with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilised for war.?
His remarks came as governments met in Bali, Indonesia, to work on a new international treaty on carbon emissions to replace Kyoto by 2012. Mr Gore will join the talks tomorrow. Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, declaring that America would ?stand accountable before history? if it failed to take... more -
John Stossel Presents a Debate Against Global Warming
John Stossel explains the other side of the global warming issue. Debates Al Gore's movie: An Inconvenient Truth.
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