Nobel Prize Week--So Far

Three days, six Laureates:

Monday: John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka jointly won the prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent".  In other words, cell development isn't necessarily irreversible. Mature cells can return to a stem cell state and develop differently.  Explanation and some very promising medical uses here.

Tuesday: The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems". That's to say they developed ways to work with individual particles without damaging them.  (And this one has the best chance for a mention on The Big Bang Theory.) More information here.

Wednesday: The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka "for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors".  A giant step in understanding how our cells can sense and react to our environment.  Read more about it here.

It's been a big week for shared Nobel Prizes.  But next up is the Literature Prize.  Whoever gets it will almost certainly have it all to him/herself.  We'll see who it is tomorrow!

Nobel Prize Week

This is it--Fashion Week for Nobel geeks (and I'm proud to be one of them).  This is the week when the entire world press decides to give us primo subject matter for globalizing the curriculum. That's why I wait for it impatiently every year. 

From the Nobel Foundation:

The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was divided, one half jointly to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity" and the other half to Ralph M. Steinman "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity".

Sadly, Ralph M. Steinman, died just a few days ago.  The Nobel Foundation, however, has determined to award the prize posthumously.

In addition to honoring some of the most productive and creative people in the world (and that's quite enough on its own), the Nobel Foundation makes available excellent resources for teaching our students, and ourselves about the Laureates' work.  So you can learn more about immune responses here.

This is teaching science with a global focus.  Teaching the world, indeed. 

Nobel Prize Week 2010

It's Nobel Prize Week, when the Nobel Foundation will be honoring those leaders who have made a world impact in Medicine, Economics, Chemistry, Literature, Physics, and Peace.


Each day will bring the announcement of a new winner, and the opportunity to introduce students to global heroes and their extraordinary work.  You can follow along on NobelPrize.org. 


Here's the schedule

Monday: Medicine
Robert G. Edwards, developer of in vitro fertilization, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.  Learn more about the laureate and his work here.


Tuesday: Physics

Wednesday: Chemistry

Thursday: Literature

Friday: Peace

Monday:  Economic Sciences

Follow along with your class this week, and learn more about the Laureates and their world-class contributions to global life.  Who knows?  You may inspire a future Nobel Laureate.

Update:  Great ideas for discussion about in vitro fertilization at NY Times Learning Network.