Nobel prize

Nobel prize for medicine split between cervical cancer and HIV research

The Nobel prize for physiology or medicine has been awarded to three scientists for the discovery of the HIV virus and for the virus that causes cervical cancer.

Half of the prize fund has gone to the German scientist Harald zur Hausen for his discovery that human papilloma virus causes changes that lead to cervical cancer in women. The other half will be shared jointly between Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, two French scientists who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) the virus that cases Aids.

The prizes, which have been awarded since 1901 are now worth 10m Swedish kronor, around £790,000.

Zur Hausen went against the prevailing scientific view in the 1970s and pursued the idea that DNA from HPV could integrate into the DNA of host cells and cause them to divide uncontrollably. It has subsequently been shown that 15 HPV types put women at risk of cancer. The virus can be detected in 99.7% of women with cervical cancer – which affects around 500,000 woman worldwide each year.

His discovery has led to a vaccine that protects women against the virus and so prevents them from developing cervical cancer. The UK government now has a national programme to give the virus to girls at school before they become sexually active. This vaccination programme has been opposed by some religious groups who argue that it promotes promiscuity.

Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier, who were both at the Institute Pasteur in Paris in the early 1980s, were the victors in a scientific race to identify the causative agent behind a novel immunodeficiency syndrome that had emerged in 1981.

To find out what was causing Aids, the researchers cultured cells from swollen lymph nodes collected from patients in the early stages of disease. In 1983 they found particles of a retrovirus – now known as HIV – budding from the cells. Around 33 million people are now infected with HIV.

Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier have long been in the frame for a medicine Nobel, but many observers had expected the American scientist Prof Robert Gallo to be jointly honoured for his role in the virus's discovery.

The chair of the Nobel committee Prof Bertil Fredholm dismissed suggestions that Gallo deserved an equal stake though. "I think it is really well established that the initial discovery of the virus was in the Institute Pasteur," he said.

Details of the winners

Harald zur Hausen, born 1936 in Germany, German citizen, MD at University of Düsseldorf. Professor emeritus and former chairman and scientific director, German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, born 1947 in France, French citizen, PhD in virology, Institut Pasteur, Garches. Professor and director, Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit, Virology Department, Institut Pasteur, Paris.

Luc Montagnier, born 1932 in France, French citizen, PhD in virology, University of Paris. Professor emeritus and director, World Foundation for Aids Research and Prevention, Paris.

Today's best video

Today in pictures