History of medicine: The Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine

Swedish : Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin.

• 1901 : Work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria.
• 1902 : Work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism.
• 1903 : Contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.
• 1904 : Work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged.
• 1905 : Investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis.
• 1906 : Work on the structure of the nervous system.
• 1907 : Work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases.
• 1908 : Work on immunity.
• 1909 : Work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland.
• 1910 : Contributions to our knowledge of cell chemistry made through his work on proteins, including the nucleic substances.

• 1911 : Work on the dioptrics of the eye.
• 1912 : Work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs.
• 1913 : Work on anaphylaxis.
• 1914 : Work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus.
• 1915 : Not awarded.
• 1916 : Not awarded.
• 1917 : Not awarded.
• 1918 : Not awarded.
• 1919 : Discoveries relating to immunity.
• 1920 : Discovery of the capillary motor regulating mechanism.

• 1921 : Not awarded.
• 1922 : Discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle. Discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle.
• 1923 : Discovery of insulin.
• 1924 : Discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram.
• 1925 : Not awarded.
• 1926 : Discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma.
• 1927 : Discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica.
• 1928 : Work on typhus.
• 1929 : Discovery of the antineuritic vitamin. Discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins.
• 1930 : Discovery of human blood groups.

• 1931 : Discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme.
• 1932 : Discoveries regarding the functions of neurons.
• 1933 : Discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in heredity.
• 1934 : Discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia.
• 1935 : Discovery of the organizer effect in embryonic development.
• 1936 : Discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses.
• 1937 : Discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid.
• 1938 : Discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration.
• 1939 : Discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil.
• 1940 : Not awarded.

• 1941 : Not awarded.
• 1942 : Not awarded.
• 1943 : Discovery of vitamin K. Discovery of the chemical nature of vitamin K.
• 1944 : Discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres.
• 1945 : Discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases.
• 1946 : Discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation.
• 1947 : Discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen. Discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar.
• 1948 : Discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods.
• 1949 : Discovery of the functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs. Discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy (lobotomy) in certain psychoses.
• 1950 : Discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects.

• 1951 : Discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it.
• 1952 : Discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis.
• 1953 : Discovery of the citric acid cycle. Discovery of co-enzyme A and its importance for intermediary metabolism.
• 1954 : Discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue.
• 1955 : Discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes.
• 1956 : Discoveries concerning heart catheterization and pathological changes in the circulatory system.
• 1957 : Discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles.
• 1958 : Discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events. Discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria.
• 1959 : Discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.
• 1960 : Discovery of acquired immunological tolerance.

• 1961 : Discoveries of the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea.
• 1962 : Discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.
• 1963 : Discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.
• 1964 : Discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism.
• 1965 : Discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis.
• 1966 : Discovery of tumour-inducing viruses. Discoveries concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer.
• 1967 : Discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye.
• 1968 : Interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.
• 1969 : Discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.
• 1970 : Discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation.

• 1971 : Discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones.
• 1972 : Discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies.
• 1973 : Discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns.
• 1974 : Discoveries concerning the structural and functional organization of the cell.
• 1975 : Discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell.
• 1976 : Discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases.
• 1977 : Discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain. Development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones.
• 1978 : Discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics.
• 1979 : Development of computer assisted tomography.
• 1980 : Discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions.

• 1981 : Discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. Discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system.
• 1982 : Discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances.
• 1983 : Discovery of mobile genetic elements.
• 1984 : Theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies.
• 1985 : Discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.
• 1986 : Discoveries of growth factors.
• 1987 : Discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity.
• 1988 : Discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.
• 1989 : Discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes.
• 1990 : Discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease.

• 1991 : Discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells.
• 1992 : Discoveries concerning reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism.
• 1993 : Discoveries of split genes.
• 1994 : Discovery of G-proteins and the role of these proteins in signal transduction in cells.
• 1995 : Discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.
• 1996 : Discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence.
• 1997 : Discovery of prions - a new biological principle of infection.
• 1998 : Discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
• 1999 : Discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell.
• 2000 : Discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system.

• 2001 : Discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle.
• 2002 : Discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.
• 2003 : Discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging.
• 2004 : Discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.
• 2005 : Discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
• 2006 : Discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA.
• 2007 : Discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells.
• 2008 : Discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer. Discovery of human immunodeficiency virus.
• 2009 : Discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
• 2010 : Development of in vitro fertilization.

• 2011 : Discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity. Discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.
• 2012 : Discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.
• 2013 : Discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells.
• 2014 : Discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
• 2015 : Discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites. Discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria. 
• 2016 : Discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.
• 2017 : Discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
• 2018 : Discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.
• 2019 : Discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
• 2020 : Discovery of Hepatitis C virus.
• 2021 : To be decided.