The 2018 Nobel Prize Winners

The Nobel Prize is a set of annual awards by the Swedish and Norwegian Institutions in honor of academic, scientific, and cultural advances. The award is bestowed in several categories which are Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics and Physiology or Medicine. The five Nobel prizes were established in 1985, by the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist. In 1968, the Central Bank of Sweden established the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. This Prize, although not a Nobel Prize, came to be informally known as the “Nobel Prize in Economics”. This year, 12 new laureates were awarded for accomplishments that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The Nobel Prize Literature award was not awarded.

Chemistry

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was divided equally into two. One half was bestowed to Frances H. Arnold, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. The other half was jointly awarded to Sir Gregory P. Winter, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK and George P. Smith of the University of Missouri. The two, inspired by the power of evolution, brought it to the greatest benefit to humankind, by developing proteins that solve mankind’s chemical problems.

Economics

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2018 was also divided equally into two. One half of the prize was awarded to Paul M. Romer of NYU Stern School of Business, New York, USA. The other half was awarded to William D. Nordhaus of Yale University, New Haven, USA. The two designed techniques for addressing how humans can create long-term sustained and sustainable economic growth.

Peace

In 2018, the Nobel Peace award was awarded jointly to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege. The duo was awarded for their attempts to bring an end to the use of rape for armed conflicts and wars. The two gave greater insight into sexual violence during war, pushing for the culprits to be held answerable for their doing.

Physiology / Medicine

This Nobel Prize was jointly awarded to Tasuku Honjo and James Allison. The two Laureates discovered cancer therapy through inhibiting negative regulation of the immune system. The Laureates has shown how various approaches for deterring the body’s immune system brakes could be utilized in cancer treatment. The findings are a major breakthrough in fighting cancer.

Physics

One half of Nobel Physics Prize 2018 was awarded to Arthur Ashkin of Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, USA. The other half was awarded jointly to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland. The Laureates revolutionized laser physics. Ashkin’s intervention was the optical tweezers that are utilized to investigate the machinery of life. The tweezers capture particles such as bacteria without harming them. Mourou and Strickland, on the other hand, made way in the intervention of the most intense and shortest and laser pulses.