The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to 3 scientists for work on peripheral immune tolerance

STOCKHOLM: Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

The trio will be formally awarded the prize, Officially known as the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, during a ceremony on December 10.

Peripheral immune tolerance is one way the body helps keep the immune system from getting out of whack and attacking your own tissues instead of foreign invaders.

Monday’s announcement took place in Stockholm.

Last year's prize was shared by Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that serve as on and off switches inside cells that help control what the cells do and when they do it.

The three were honoured “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance”, the jury said.

“Their discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases,” it added.

Their findings may also lead to more successful transplantations.

Sakaguchi, 74, made the first key discovery in 1995.

• Key takeaways

• • Winners: Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell (United States) and Shimon Sakaguchi (Japan).

• • Awarded for: Discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance — how the body prevents the immune system from attacking itself.

• • Breakthrough discoveries:

• o Sakaguchi (1995): Identified a new class of immune cells, regulatory T cells, that suppress harmful immune reactions.

• o Brunkow & Ramsdell (2001): Discovered the Foxp3 gene, mutations of which cause severe autoimmune diseases (like IPEX).

• o Sakaguchi (2003): Linked both findings, shaping modern understanding of immune tolerance.

• Impact on medicine:

• o Opened new avenues for treating autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

• o Paved the way for therapies that enhance immune control in cancer treatment and organ transplantation.

• o Established a new field in immunology that balances immunity and tolerance.

• What it means for the world — and for us

• For patients: Hope for safer, targeted treatments against autoimmune disorders and transplant rejection.

• For researchers: A model for how curiosity-driven research can transform medicine decades later.

• For policymakers: A reminder of why long-term funding in basic science matters — amid global cutbacks, especially in the US.

• For India and developing countries: Reinforces the need to invest in immunology and biomedical research infrastructure to translate global breakthroughs locally.

• For global science: A warning — as Nobel jurors noted — that major budget cuts in the US could slow worldwide medical innovation.

At the time, many researchers were convinced that immune tolerance only developed due to potentially harmful immune cells being eliminated in the thymus, through a process called “central tolerance”.

Sakaguchi showed that the immune system is more complex and discovered a previously unknown class of immune cells, which protect the body from autoimmune diseases.

Brunkow, born in 1961, and Ramsdell, 64, made the other key discovery in 2001, when they were able to explain why certain mice were particularly vulnerable to autoimmune diseases.

“They had discovered that mice have a mutation in a gene that they named Foxp3,” the jury said.

“They also showed that mutations in the human equivalent of this gene cause a serious autoimmune disease, IPEX.”

Two years later, Sakaguchi was able to link these discoveries.

The trio will receive their prize - a diploma, a gold medal and a $1.2-million cheque - from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of scientist Alfred Nobel.

Nobel created the prizes in his last will and testament.

Trump jeopardising US leading role

Researchers from major US institutions typically dominate the Nobel science prizes, due largely to the US’ longstanding investment in basic science and academic freedoms.

But that could change down the line following massive US budget cuts to science programmes announced by President Donald Trump.

Since January, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has terminated 2,100 research grants totalling around $9.5 billion and $2.6 billion in contracts, according to an independent database called Grant Watch.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the committee that awards the Nobel Prize for Medicine, told AFP it was “no coincidence that the US has by far the most Nobel laureates”.

“But there is now a creeping sense of uncertainty about the US’ willingness to maintain their leading position in research,” he said.

Perlmann called the United States “the very engine” of scientific research worldwide.

“There would be very serious consequences for research globally if it starts to falter,” he added.

“It doesn’t take very many years of large cutbacks to cause irreversible harm.”

Trump has meanwhile made no secret of the fact that he wants to win a Nobel himself - the Peace Prize.

Nobel experts have however said his “America First” policies and divisive style give him little chance against those toiling on forgotten causes outside the limelight.

“It’s completely unthinkable,” Oeivind Stenersen, a historian who has conducted research and co-written a book on the prize, told AFP.

“(Trump) is in many ways the opposite of the ideals that the Nobel Prize represents,” he said.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is about defending multilateral cooperation, for example in the UN... and Trump breaks with that principle. He follows his own path, unilaterally,” Stenersen added.

Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms (ERR) - networks of volunteers feeding and helping people endure war and famine - are seen as a possible winner this year, as are media watchdogs the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, is among bookies’ favourites.

The Nobel season continues this week with the announcement of the winners of the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday, peace on Friday and economics on Monday, October 13.