Americans smell Nobel victory
2004-10-04 12:03
Stockholm - Americans Richard Axel and Linda B Buck have won the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work in studying odorant receptors and the organisation of the olfactory system in human beings.
The medicine prize includes a cheque for 10 million kronor ($1.3m), but it is the aura of prestige a Nobel Prize confers that candidates crave most.
There are no set guidelines for deciding who wins. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who endowed the awards that bear his name, simply said the winner "shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine".
The Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet, which selects the medicine prize winner, invites nominations from previous recipients, professors of medicine and other professionals worldwide before whittling down its choices in the fall.
- SAPA