Ivermectin began in a soil sample
Ivermectin's story began with a soil microorganism. Satoshi Ōmura isolated Streptomyces avermitilis; William Campbell identified antiparasitic activity in its culture. Ivermectin is a derivative of avermectin.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015: Advanced informationGout and grafts share research roots
Allopurinol and azathioprine emerged from Elion and Hitchings' research programme. One became a treatment for gout; the other helped prevent transplanted organs from being rejected.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988: Press releaseGTN's secret was nitric oxide
In 1977, Ferid Murad found that glyceryl trinitrate and related vasodilators release nitric oxide. The gas relaxes smooth muscle—linking a familiar medicine to a then-surprising signalling mechanism.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1998: Press releaseAn ancient text helped unlock a drug
Tu Youyou drew on ancient Chinese medical writing while investigating sweet wormwood for malaria. Clues about extraction helped her obtain artemisinin, a discovery recognised by the 2015 medicine Nobel.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015: Press releaseA damaged vessel changed the answer
Furchgott found that acetylcholine dilated blood vessels only when their endothelial lining remained intact. The result revealed that the lining released a separate relaxing signal, later identified as nitric oxide.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1998: Press releaseOne scientist, two receptor breakthroughs
James Black helped develop both propranolol and cimetidine. His work turned receptor blockade into treatments for very different problems: cardiovascular disease and peptic ulcer disease.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988: Press releaseOne Nobel, two parasite breakthroughs
The 2015 medicine Nobel split across two kinds of parasite treatment: half went jointly to Campbell and Ōmura for work against roundworms, while Tu Youyou received the other half for malaria therapy.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015Cancer drugs from metabolic differences
Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings used differences in nucleic acid metabolism to guide drug development. Their work produced thioguanine and mercaptopurine for leukaemia, rather than relying only on random screening.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988: Press releaseAn antihistamine milestone in 1937
Daniel Bovet and Anne-Marie Staub produced an early antihistamine in 1937. It blocked histamine's effects experimentally, helping establish that drugs could selectively oppose biological amines.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1957: Award ceremony speechThe teenager in insulin's early story
Leonard Thompson was 14 when he received insulin treatment in January 1922. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but later injections brought major improvement—an early turning point in diabetes treatment.
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NobelPrize.org: The discovery that reversed the diabetes death sentenceA gas became a Nobel-winning signal
Nitric oxide is a gas, yet cells use it to signal across membranes. Recognising its cardiovascular signalling role earned Robert Furchgott, Louis Ignarro and Ferid Murad the 1998 medicine Nobel.
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1998: Press releaseYou're all caught up
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