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Recent Winners of Nobel in Medicine

By The Associated Press

8:03 AM EDT, October 8, 2007

Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and their research, according to the Nobel Foundation:

* 2007: U.S. citizens Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies and Sir Martin J. Evans of Britain for groundbreaking discoveries that led to a technique for manipulating mouse genes.

* 2006: Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello of the United States for their work in controlling the flow of genetic information.

* 2005: Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren of Australia for their work in how the bacterium Helicobacter pylori plays a role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

* 2004: Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck of the United States for their work in studying odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system in human beings.

* 2003: Paul C. Lauterbur, United States, and Sir Peter Mansfield, Britain, for discoveries in magnetic resonance imaging, a technique that reveals the brain and inner organs in breathtaking detail.

* 2002: Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston, Britain, and H. Robert Horvitz, United States, for discoveries concerning how genes regulate organ development and a process of programmed cell death.

* 2001: Leland H. Hartwell, United States, R. Timothy Hunt and Sir Paul M. Nurse, Britain, for the discovery of key regulators of the process that lets cells divide, which is expected to lead to new cancer treatments.

* 2000: Arvid Carlsson, Sweden, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel, United States, for research on how brain cells transmit signals to each other, thus increasing understanding on how the brain functions and how neurological and psychiatric disorders may be better treated.

* 1999: Guenter Blobel, United States, for protein research that shed new light on diseases, including cystic fibrosis and early development of kidney stones.

* 1998: Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad, United States, for the discovery of properties of nitric oxide, a common air pollutant but also a lifesaver because of its capacity to dilate blood vessels.

* 1997: Stanley B. Prusiner, United States, for the discovery of prions, an infectious agent at the heart of several forms of brain-wasting disease.