1993 Nobel Prizes

The 1993 Nobel Prizes were awarded by the Nobel Foundation, based in Sweden. Six categories were awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.[1]

Prizes

Physics

Awardee(s)
Russell Alan Hulse

(b. 1950)

American "for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation" [2]
Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.

(b. 1941)

Chemistry

Awardee(s)
Kary B. Mullis

(1944–2019)

American "for contributions to the developments of methods within DNA-based chemistry [...] for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method" [3]
Michael Smith

(1932–2000)

British

Canadian

"for contributions to the developments of methods within DNA-based chemistry [...] for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies"

Physiology or Medicine

Awardee(s)
Sir Richard J. Roberts

(b. 1943)

 United Kingdom "for their discoveries of split genes" [4]
Phillip A. Sharp

(b. 1944)

 United States

Literature

Main article: 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature
Awardee(s)
Toni Morrison

(1931–2019)

 United States "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality" [5]

Peace

Awardee(s)
Nelson Mandela

(1918–2013)

 South Africa "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa." [6]
Frederik Willem de Klerk

(1936–2021)

Economic Sciences

Awardee(s)
Robert Fogel

(1926–2013)

 United States "for having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change" [7]
Douglass North

(1920–2015)

Controversies

Physiology or Medicine

Scientists argued that Louise T. Chow, a China-born Taiwanese researcher, should have been acknowledged alongside Roberts, as she not only collaborated with him but also pioneered the experiments that led to the discovery of split genes. Others also mentioned the exclusion of credit for Susan Berget, a then-postdoctoral fellow who helped with Sharp's discovery.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "All Nobel Prizes". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  2. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  3. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  4. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Nobel Prize in Literature 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  6. ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  7. ^ "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  8. ^ Abir-Am, Pnina Geraldine (September 2020). "The Women Who Discovered RNA Splicing". American Scientist. 108 (5): 298–305. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  9. ^ Flint, Anthony (November 8, 1993). "Nobel Prize in medicine brews resentment, envy". The Idaho Statesman. Retrieved January 12, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.