Nobel Laureate Research Articles

The cost of delaying to invest: A Canadian perspective

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Bank of Canada, and several key financial institutions recently published a report examining transitional risks to the Canadian economy under various climate change scenarios. However, their results leave an important void with respect to the impact of physical risks and the associated costs of climate change for Canada, such as the loss of biodiversity, sea-level rise, and infrastructure damage due to fires and floods, etc. We fill this void by updating the Dynamic Integrated Climate and Economy model developed by 2018 Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus to project physical damages due to climate change for Canada. Our results illustrate stark differences in physical costs under various warming scenarios, highlighting the importance of taking action to mitigate climate change. We find that undertaking the required investments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions more than pays for itself in terms of avoided physical damage alone.

Nobel Laureates and the Role of the Industry in the Emergence of New Scientific Breakthroughs

Since the 1980s, many companies recognized for their major scientific breakthroughs (e.g., IBM, AT&T, etc.), cut their investments in fundamental research activities. In parallel, academics from public research organizations (PRO) and universities engaged more extensively with the industry through research collaborations. The conditions, determinants, and effects of academic engagement have been deeply analyzed. But, the extent to which major scientific breakthroughs of the last century have emerged either from (1) academics and researchers with no interaction with the industry or (2) from scientists interacting with the industry - either as engaged academics belonging to PRO or universities or as corporate scientists – are yet to be more systematically documented. To fill this gap, we explored the extent to which scientists from the quasi-complete cohort of Nobel laureates in Physics, Medicine, and Chemistry were interacting with the industry before their breakthrough discoveries. We designed a unique dataset of their ties with the industry based on affiliations review of 84,423 academic papers and applicant review of 5,207 patent families. First, we showed that one-fifth of the studied cohort of laureates was interacting with the industry before their breakthrough discovery. More importantly, this share is still increasing, mainly through academic engagement, while the share of awarded corporate scientists has remained stable since 1970. Second, we were able to analyze the effects of those interactions with the industry on the post-discovery period by comparing interacting and non-interacting with industry laureates’ follow-on research works. While some scientific discoveries were partly made possible thanks to Nobel laureates' industrial partners, those laureates' follow-on knowledge works were not bound to their initial sets of partners. They experienced similar knowledge diffusion-to-industry rates than other laureates but higher academic production rates and diffusion-to-academia rates. Finally, we claim that the extent to which scientific new knowledge still emerges in relation to industrial contexts in modern science has been under-evaluated and opens rooms for further research.

Development and Heredity in the Interwar Period: Hans Spemann and Fritz Baltzer on Organizers and Merogones

This article explores the collaborative research of the Nobel laureate Hans Spemann (1869–1941) and the Swiss zoologist Fritz Baltzer (1884–1974) on problems at the intersection of development and heredity and raises more general questions concerning science and politics in Germany in the interwar period. It argues that Spemann and Baltzer’s collaborative work made a significant contribution to the then ongoing debates about the relation between developmental physiology and hereditary studies, although Spemann distanced himself from Drosophila genetics because of his anti-reductionist position. The article analyzes how Spemann framed the issues of heredity in terms of an epigenetic principle in the context of his work on the “organizer,” and it explores the experimental dynamics of research on newt merogones carried out by Baltzer in a methodological development of Spemann’s constriction experiments. Finally, these research attempts are discussed as part of a broader “prehistory” of the mid-twentieth century cell nuclear transplantation experiments, which provided the basis for later animal cloning.

Nobel-winning nuclear physicist Ben Roy Mottelson dies

The American-Danish physicist and Nobel laureate Ben Roy Mottelson died on 13 May at the age of 95. Mottelson made critical contributions to determining and understanding that certain nuclei could have asymmetrical shapes.

Controversies in Selecting Nobel Laureates: An Historical Commentary.

There is universal agreement that the Nobel Prizes, given to individuals who have made an extraordinarily notable contribution to humankind in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, are the most prestigious prizes offered for human achievement. This commentary gives an overview of the basis for Alfred Nobel writing his third will that established the five prizes and includes a discussion of why those five fields were chosen. The commentary includes factors that influenced his choices and contains examples of controversial selections or omissions, especially in the earlier years. A few were errors of omission (e.g. Tolstoy, Tesla, Edison, Best, Gandhi, Franklin), some errors of commission (e.g. Fibiger, Moniz); but, given the complexity of the task, the error rate is small. In some cases, the conclusion that an error had been made is debatable. Such decisions are difficult. Arne Tiselius, a Nobel laureate in chemistry and President of the Nobel Foundation said that one cannot in practice apply the principle that the Nobel Prize should be given to the person who is best; it is impossible to define who is best. Hence, there is only one alternative: to try to find a particularly worthy candidate. This paper includes a brief review of the integration of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, established in 1968, and added to the original five Nobel Prizes; the prize was first awarded in 1969. A short discussion on the absence of a Nobel Prize in mathematics is provided. Adaptations to the development of “big” science, especially in physics, may require the Nobel Foundation to extend its limit of no more than three awardees for the prize in physics and, perhaps, other scientific disciplines.

Lighting up Nobel Prize-winning studies with protein intrinsic disorder.

Intrinsically disordered proteins and regions (IDPs and IDRs) and their importance in biology are becoming increasingly recognized in biology, biochemistry, molecular biology and chemistry textbooks, as well as in current protein science and structural biology curricula. We argue that the sequence → dynamic conformational ensemble → function principle is of equal importance as the classical sequence → structure → function paradigm. To highlight this point, we describe the IDPs and/or IDRs behind the discoveries associated with 17 Nobel Prizes, 11 in Physiology or Medicine and 6 in Chemistry. The Nobel Laureates themselves did not always mention that the proteins underlying the phenomena investigated in their award-winning studies are in fact IDPs or contain IDRs. In several cases, IDP- or IDR-based molecular functions have been elucidated, while in other instances, it is recognized that the respective protein(s) contain IDRs, but the specific IDR-based molecular functions have yet to be determined. To highlight the importance of IDPs and IDRs as general principle in biology, we present here illustrative examples of IDPs/IDRs in Nobel Prize-winning mechanisms and processes.

Linking Infections to Mental Disorders via Genetics

The link between infections and mental disorders has been investigated since the 1880s. In 1887, through observing his own patients, Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Nobel Laureate and a leading psychiatrist, published a paper concluding that fever could cure psychoses and discussed infecting patients to induce fever as a therapeutic intervention (1). Epidemics and pandemics throughout history suggest that infections could trigger various mental disorders and influence the course of mental health and infectious disorders.

Man and Beast: Mo Yan’s Details and Politics

ABSTRACT Focusing on slaughter scenes, this article studies the aesthetics and politics of details in Mo Yan’s novels. It argues that the Chinese Nobel Laureate’s detailing of violence, especially violence against animals, became a crucial part of his literary observation and moral critique of the excess and injustice that emerged in China’s modern pursuit of wealth and power. Mo Yan’s sensuous approach to the subject, however, is non-moralistic and non-anthropocentric. In emphasizing the “flesh” that diminishes the difference between men and animals, and in accommodating the perceptual-ethical ambiguities associated with details, his writing deviates from the humanist tradition of modern Chinese literature. Depicting the body – human or animal – that suffers from hunger and violence through minutest visual and aural details became Mo Yan’s peculiar way of “soul searching.” The flayed animal carcass and violated human flesh reveal what is not there, the spirit that has been annihilated and obliterated together with the body. No less important, the author’s very early grasp of the connection between decimated animals and the disturbed ecological environment – driven by human avarice and intensified by China’s fast-growing economy – is prescient.

Immuno-Oncology 360° 8th Annual Event Highlights.

The 8th Annual Immuno-Oncology 360° (IO360°) event was held March 16–18, 2022, in New York City. IO360° 2022 attracted a gathering of more than 450 attendees, representing industry, academia, and investment; 125+ speakers; 80+ IO topics; and 9+ hours of networking.Day one began with opening remarks from chairs Axel Hoos, MD, PhD, CEO of Scorpion Therapeutics, and James Gulley, MD, PhD, Chief, Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Director, Medical Oncology Service, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.The opening keynote was from Nobel Laureate Gregg Semenza, MD, PhD, Director, Vascular Program, Institute for Cell Engineering, and Professor of Genetic Medicine, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Figure 1). Dr Semenza discussed his research into hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) and the impact of HIF inhibition on immunotherapy cancer treatment.Daniel Chen, MD, PhD, Founder, Engenuity Life Sciences, gave the Zeitgeist Talk. Dr Chen provided a broad understanding of the IO landscape a decade after checkpoint inhibitors: what is known, what needs to be known, and how to get there faster.Plenary talks covered discovery phase, translational, and biomarker research. There were two tracks focused on clinical operations and advancements in imaging. Five companies participated in the IO360° biotech showcase.At the annual IO360° debate, Kristen Hege, MD, Senior Vice President, Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology and Cell Therapy, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and Bob Valamehr, PhD, Chief Research and Development Officer, Fate Therapeutics, debated whether natural killer cells or T cells were the future for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy. After day one, several attendees took a guided historical walk of New York City's first landmark district, Brooklyn Heights.Day two began with a welcome from Dr Gulley and a keynote from Rachel Haurwitz, PhD, CEO of Caribou Biosciences (Figure 2). Dr Haurwitz presented on her company's use of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) to create allogeneic CAR T cell therapies.Andrew Baum, MD, Managing Director, Equity Research, Citi, gave his annual “Top 10 Recommendations” talk and what is next on the IO radar (Figure 3). The track sessions were divided among business development, novel technologies, translational updates, and the annual Cell and Gene Therapy Day. The Cell and Gene Therapy Day keynote, Christine Brown, PhD, Deputy Director, T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratory, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope (Figure 4), described the approach her laboratory was taking in CAR-T treatment of glioblastoma. It ended with the 7th Annual Networking Reception.Day three was opened by Dr Chen before a VIP fireside chat with patient advocate Karen Peterson (Figure 5) and moderator Cindy Geoghegan. Ms Peterson is a cancer survivor and clinical trial participant and shared her incredible journey to find a clinical trial after a breast cancer diagnosis.Suzanne Topalian, MD, Associate Director/Professor of Surgery, Bloomberg∼Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy/Johns Hopkins University (Figure 6), gave a keynote talk. Dr Topalian presented research and case studies on the neoadjuvant use of checkpoint blockades, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab, across several tumor types. That was followed by plenary sessions on neoadjuvant/adjuvant updates, bispecifics, and clinical development.This year's strategic advisors were Axel Hoos, MD, PhD, Scorpion Therapeutics (founding advisor); James Gulley, MD, PhD, National Cancer Institute (founding advisor); Priti Hegde, PhD, Foundation Medicine; Daniel Chen, MD, PhD, Engenuity Life Sciences; Andrew Baum, MD, Citi; Lisa Butterfield, PhD, Parker Institute; Roy Baynes, MD, Merck; Raluca Verona, PhD, Janssen R&D; Theresa LaValle, PhD, Coherus Biosciences; Alexandra Snyder, MD, Two River; Aiman Shalabi, PharmD, GSK; Kristen Hege, MD, BMS; Ramy Ibrahim, MD, bit.bio; and Michael Kalos, PhD, Next Pillar Consulting.This year's chairs were Charles Glaus, PhD, Bayer US-Pharmaceuticals; Andy Lee, Merck; Theresa LaVallee, PhD, Coherus BioSciences; Brad Loncar, Loncar Investments; Aiman Shalabi, PharmD, GSK; Kristen Hege, MD, BMS; David Fabrizio, Foundation Medicine; Raluca Verona, PhD, Janssen R&D; Ramy Ibrahim, MD, bit.bio; Michael Kalos, PhD, Next Pillar Consulting; Sanjeev Mariathasan, PhD, Genentech; and Bei Wang, MD, PhD, Regeneron.The 2022 IO360° speaking faculty presented on the following topics:Immuno-Oncology 360° addresses the rapid advancements of clinical, scientific, and business developments of IO in one setting to help develop therapeutics for a wider range of cancers at an accelerated rate. Next year's dates are February 7–10, 2023, in New York City. For more information, visit www.io360summit.com.

New Studies of Modern Economic Though

The article presents the results of research on the latest stage of world economic thought. The views of Nobel laureates in economics are analyzed: R. Mandell, a specialist in world economic relations, B. Holmstrom, a representative of the third generation of neo-institutionalism, P. Romer, a developer of endogenous growth models, E. Duflo, a prominent representative of the modern theory of development, as well as mathematical economists. E. Maskin, R. Myerson, E. Roth, R. Wilson. The views of the influential Japanese economist H. Yoshikawa are interpreted separately.

Jacob Heiss and the Gay Nobel Laureate: homosexuality in Nazi Germany

The historical and scientific literature is replete with the extraordinary story of the 1931 winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, Otto Heinrich Warburg. What all publications have in common when telling the Warburg story are two main themes, his religion, and his theory as to the cause of cancer. A recent biography of Warburg that has garnered a great deal of attention in the media has again targeted his theory on cancer and the role glucose plays in tumor survival. Earlier biographers while addressing his personal life to some degree, have shied away from, or have only tangentially addressed the issue that Warburg was gay or in the vernacular of the era a homosexual. In what has been called by some historians as the great intellectual migration 1500 Jewish scientists trained at some of the best institutions in the world fled for the United States or other safe havens following the ascension of Adolf Hitler. Among those who fled were physicists such as Albert Einstein, as well as numerous biologists, most of whom would go on to become Nobel laureates. While his Jewish colleagues fled Germany, Warburg opted to stay, where he not only survived the war, but thrived. While the story of the Jewish scientist who survived Nazi Germany is extraordinary and to this day leaves many unanswered questions, it is but half the story, it is the other half of the Warburg story that has all but been erased. While in no way an attempt to minimize what we now know about the ultimate plight of millions of Jews; I however, have chosen to focus the plight of gay men under Nazi rule and to point out that the 1931 winner of a Nobel Prize Otto Warburg was gay and the often-neglected fact that he was in a loving relationship with his partner, right-hand and on occasion his protector for over 50 years, Jacob Heiss.

ACS congratulates NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awardees

The American Chemical Society extends its congratulations to three recent US National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship awardees who were previously involved with the ACS Bridge Project or the ACS Scholars Program—initiatives that provide support for students from groups underrepresented in the chemical sciences. The three awardees are Esteban Bautista at the University of California, Irvine, Stephanie Oliveras Santos at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Kala Youngblood at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Since 1952, NSF has awarded over 50,000 Graduate Research Fellowships to students from a pool of more than 500,000 applicants. Forty-two of these fellows have become Nobel laureates and more than 450 have joined the National Academy of Sciences.

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) a famous American Nobel laureate (1954), is considered the master of art and literature not only of American Literature but also of world literature. The famous novel The Sun Also Rises is one of Hemingway’s major war novels that sets the flags for a generation that endured war and cultural disillusionment. In this novel Hemingway concentrates on the artificiality and desperation of the life bred by the First World War. It deals with the post-war disillusionment and moral disorder that left human being shattered. In its pervasive mood of cynicism and revolt with established values, the novel encompasses many themes starting from war to love and disillusionment from traditional values. The paper sets out to investigate major thematic aspects that are considered to the core of rhe novel The Sun Also Rises. It also tries to examine the effects of war on culture and people.

الصورة الأدبية لنجيب محفوظ في الصين / Naguib Mahfouz’s Literary Image in China

Abstract Adopting a translation criticism approach of descriptive analysis, the thesis, from a cross-cultural perspective, combs through the development about translation, introduction and the acceptance of Naguib Mahfouz by the Chinese before and after he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. After a synchronic and diachronic study of the attitudes and ways of acceptance for Mahfouz during different periods, the thesis unravels the process in which Mahfouz’s literary image has developed from a simple “teller of social problems” to a sophisticated “writer of the world.” Besides, the thesis explores the Chinese scholars’ cultural filtering and value orientation towards Mahfouz, oriental writer and Nobel laureate, as well as Mahfouz’s influence and constraints of China’s present cultural and linguistic contexts.

Contributions to computed tomography

I would like to add a historical footnote to the excellent article by John Boone and Cynthia McCollough in the September 2021 issue of Physics Today (page 34). The origins of computed tomography (CT) can be traced to William Oldendorf’s pioneering work in the late 1950s and 1960s. Oldendorf was a professor of neurology at the UCLA School of Medicine when he developed a prototype of an automated tomographic device in which he used his son’s electric train set, a phonograph turntable, an alarm clock motor, and other household items. It was the first demonstration of “a radiographic method of producing cross-sectional images of soft tissue by back-projection and reconstruction.”11. L. J. West, J. C. Mazziotta, A. Yuwiler, in University of California: In Memoriam, 1993, University of California Academic Senate (1993), p. 133.In his 1961 breakthrough paper, Oldendorf laid out CT’s basic concept,22. W. H. Oldendorf, IRE Trans. Biomed. Electron. 8, 68 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1109/TBMEL.1961.4322854 which Allan Cormack later used to develop its underlying mathematics. In October 1963 Oldendorf received a US patent for a “radiant energy apparatus for investigating selected areas of the interior of objects obscured by dense material.”33. W. H. Oldendorf, “Radiant energy apparatus for investigating selected areas of the interior of objects obscured by dense material,” US Patent 3,106,640 (8 October 1963).The 1975 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award recognized the importance of Oldendorf’s contributions to discoveries that enabled CT. He shared the prize with Godfrey Hounsfield, who with Cormack would receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine four years later for “the development of computer assisted tomography.”Some have speculated that Oldendorf was on the original Nobel announcement but was removed at the last minute at the behest of certain members of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which votes on the nominating committee’s recommendations. It is possible some assembly members felt that the inclusion of a clinician would cheapen the award, making it appear overly pragmatic and thereby reducing its prestige.44. W. J. Broad, Science 207, 37 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6985744Oldendorf gave a lecture at UCLA shortly after the Nobel announcement was made. In it, he reviewed the work that earned him a Lasker and should have made him a Nobel laureate. Everyone who heard Oldendorf’s presentation that day (myself included) came away convinced he was unjustly deprived of the pinnacle of scientific recognition. Readers wanting to learn more about Oldendorf’s contributions to tomography and their historical context should consult his book on the topic.55. W. H. Oldendorf, The Quest for an Image of Brain: Computerized Tomography in the Perspective of Past and Future Imaging Methods, Raven Press (1980).ReferencesSection:ChooseTop of pageReferences <<CITING ARTICLES1. L. J. West, J. C. Mazziotta, A. Yuwiler, in University of California: In Memoriam, 1993, University of California Academic Senate (1993), p. 133. Google Scholar2. W. H. Oldendorf, IRE Trans. Biomed. Electron. 8, 68 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1109/TBMEL.1961.4322854, Google ScholarCrossref3. W. H. Oldendorf, “Radiant energy apparatus for investigating selected areas of the interior of objects obscured by dense material,” US Patent 3,106,640 (8 October 1963). Google Scholar4. W. J. Broad, Science 207, 37 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6985744, Google ScholarCrossref5. W. H. Oldendorf, The Quest for an Image of Brain: Computerized Tomography in the Perspective of Past and Future Imaging Methods, Raven Press (1980). Google Scholar© 2022 American Institute of Physics.

“If That Be Treason, Let Them Make the Most of It!”: Olin Downes, the Spanish Civil War, and Civil Liberties in the United States

“If That Be Treason, Let Them Make the Most of It!”: Olin Downes, the Spanish Civil War, and Civil Liberties in the United States

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An Insufficient Canon: The Popol Wuj, Book of Mormon, and Other Scriptures

An Insufficient Canon: The Popol Wuj, Book of Mormon, and Other Scriptures

Outside Front Cover: Volume 1 Issue 3

Interdisciplinary MaterialsVolume 1, Issue 3 p. i-i COVER IMAGEOpen Access Outside Front Cover: Volume 1 Issue 3 First published: 25 July 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/idm2.12052AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Outside Front Cover Professor John B. Goodenough discovered almost all the commercial cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries involving interdisciplinary fields of chemistry, physics, materials, energy, and electronics. Nowadays the LIBs have been extensively used in our daily life to power mobile phones, laptop computers, electric vehicles, and drones. Volume1, Issue3Special Issue: Interdisciplinary Research of Materials and Energy in Honor of Nobel Laureate John B. GoodenoughJuly 2022Pages i-i RelatedInformation

Interdisciplinary research of materials and energy in honor of Nobel laureate John B. Goodenough

Interdisciplinary research of materials and energy in honor of Nobel laureate John B. Goodenough