On October 6, local time, the annual Nobel Prize "award week" kicked off, with six prizes to be announced one by one. Among them, three scientists—Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi—were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Over its century-long history, the Nobel Prize has been awarded 627 times. Winners of prizes in Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and other categories typically receive a medal, a diploma, and a substantial monetary award.

01 Nobel's Will and Its Century-Long Resonance

"Convert my entire remaining estate into a fund, and use the interest from this fund each year as prize money to reward those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind."

More than a hundred years ago, Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel decided in his will to donate his fortune of over 31 million Swedish kronor to establish a fund. The annual interest from the fund was to be divided into five parts and awarded to those who "have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind" in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and others.

In 1898, the King of Sweden declared Nobel's will effective, and the Swedish Parliament subsequently approved the statutes of the Nobel Foundation. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel's death.

02 The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Announced

The Nobel Committee officially announced the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Three scientists—Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi—jointly received the honor for their pioneering research in the field of peripheral immune tolerance.

Mary E. Brunkow is affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, USA; Fred Ramsdell is a scientist at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco; and Shimon Sakaguchi is affiliated with Osaka University in Japan. Their research revealed key regulatory mechanisms in the immune system, particularly the important role of regulatory T cells in immune tolerance, providing new approaches for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and excessive immune responses. This discovery has had a profound impact on the field of immunology, driving innovation in therapeutic strategies for various diseases.

The Nobel Committee stated that this work not only deepened human understanding of the immune system but also laid a solid foundation for precision medicine and the development of biotechnology. The laureates will receive their monetary award and medals at the award ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10. This prize once again highlights the great value of basic medical research in improving human health.