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 for Literature

This was supposed to be the year of the Syrian poet Adonis.  Instead, the committee had a (local) surprise--

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2011 is awarded to Tomas Tranströmer "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality".

And with that, let's go directly to those images.  Two poems by Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer here

Nobel Prize Week--Literature

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat."

In his novels, Llosa explores the theme of power in Latin America, especially the effect of political power (and corruption) on the lives of ordinary people.  And he certainly hasn't avoided controversy.  In fact, his first published novel (La ciudad y los perros, published in English as The Time of the Hero) was publicly burned in Lima.   

Llosa's fiction has long been acclaimed, and he's a popular writer both in Spanish and in translation. (Take a look at the congratulations from readers around the world.)

Read more about Llosa here.  And stand by for some well deserved media attention for a great writer.  NPR is already offering commentary on what's bound to be a very popular choice for the Prize.

Update:  Hear Llosa's response to the Prize here.