On viruses, discovery, and recognition

Abstract

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine rewards the discoverers of two viruses that cause major afflictions of humankind. Identifying human papilloma virus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) might now appear to have been simple, but the way forward was far from obvious at the time.

Figure 1

Viruses in the Spotlight (A) A model of a virus-like particle of the HPV vaccine in which recombinant L1 proteins assemble into pentamers, which in turn form particles (image courtesy of Mark Feinberg, Merck & Co, Inc.). (B) HIV particles (artificially colored red) budding from a CD4⁺ T lymphocyte (image courtesy of David Hockley and Robin A. Weiss).

Figure 2

HPV and HIV Bring Home the Prize Shown are this year's winners of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine: (left) Harald zur Hausen of the University of Heidelberg and (right) Francoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute. (Left image courtesy of the German Cancer Research Center; right image courtesy and copyright of Institut Pasteur.)