Nobel Prize Medal in Physiology or Medicine
1934 George Minot
2015 SOLD for $ 550K by Bonhams
Medicine and pharmacy made significant progress by empirical experiments. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine highlights a long list of victories over previously incurable diseases. It was awarded in 1934 to Whipple, Minot and Murphy for their work on the diet of pernicious anemia.
The mechanism of the disease is not known when Whipple presumes that the liver has a role in it. He shows on dogs that the absorption of liver reverses the effects of an induced anemia. In 1926, Minot and Murphy use his results to prepare liver juice for patients showing syndromes of pernicious anemia. The disease is defeated.
The pharmaceutical story does not end at that point, fortunately. As early as 1928, another researcher who was not honored in the Nobel prize improved the diet by injecting liver extracts to the patient, avoiding him a daily swallow of a big quantity of liver food. In 1948, the cause of the pernicious anemia is identified as a deficiency of absorption by the intestine of a previously unidentified vitamin.
On September 21, 2015, Bonhams sold for $ 550K from a lower estimate of $ 200K the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to George Minot along with various related documents, lot 46. Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
One of these documents is particularly noteworthy. Minot suffered from a severe diabetes. He had been saved from death by the discovery of insulin in 1921. Frederick Banting wrote from Toronto to congratulate him on his Nobel and to comfort him by stating that good quality insulin is also available in Sweden.
The mechanism of the disease is not known when Whipple presumes that the liver has a role in it. He shows on dogs that the absorption of liver reverses the effects of an induced anemia. In 1926, Minot and Murphy use his results to prepare liver juice for patients showing syndromes of pernicious anemia. The disease is defeated.
The pharmaceutical story does not end at that point, fortunately. As early as 1928, another researcher who was not honored in the Nobel prize improved the diet by injecting liver extracts to the patient, avoiding him a daily swallow of a big quantity of liver food. In 1948, the cause of the pernicious anemia is identified as a deficiency of absorption by the intestine of a previously unidentified vitamin.
On September 21, 2015, Bonhams sold for $ 550K from a lower estimate of $ 200K the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to George Minot along with various related documents, lot 46. Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
One of these documents is particularly noteworthy. Minot suffered from a severe diabetes. He had been saved from death by the discovery of insulin in 1921. Frederick Banting wrote from Toronto to congratulate him on his Nobel and to comfort him by stating that good quality insulin is also available in Sweden.
1953 Hans Krebs
2015 SOLD for £ 275K by Sotheby's
Hans Adolf Krebs analyzed the chemical mechanism of production of energy from food and was awarded in 1953 for this discovery the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Lipmann.
By analyzing the urea in 1932, Krebs had already appreciated that the main mechanisms that support life are cycles. The citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, published by him in 1937, explains life. It is indeed one of the most significant breakthrough in life sciences.
Lipids, carbohydrates and amino acids that constitute the food are chemically broken before triggering successively ten catalyzed chemical reactions within the cell, producing the energy that activates the respiration. It is a cycle because the last chemical reaction recreates the molecule that receives the organic substances in the cell. The process is endless as far as the animal injects food.
The Krebs cycle applies to all living beings including bacteria and appeared when the level of oxygen increased on Earth two billion years ago.
Hans Adolf Krebs was a Jew. Expelled from Germany by the Nazis in 1933, he was highly welcomed in England and is considered a British scientist, naturalized in 1939.
His Nobel medal and diploma housed in the original gilt printed case were sold for £ 275K by Sotheby's on 14 July 2015, lot 56 for the benefit of The Sir Hans Krebs Trust, a newly created charity endeavoring to support researchers in biology or medicine prevented by persecution to work in their home country.
By analyzing the urea in 1932, Krebs had already appreciated that the main mechanisms that support life are cycles. The citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, published by him in 1937, explains life. It is indeed one of the most significant breakthrough in life sciences.
Lipids, carbohydrates and amino acids that constitute the food are chemically broken before triggering successively ten catalyzed chemical reactions within the cell, producing the energy that activates the respiration. It is a cycle because the last chemical reaction recreates the molecule that receives the organic substances in the cell. The process is endless as far as the animal injects food.
The Krebs cycle applies to all living beings including bacteria and appeared when the level of oxygen increased on Earth two billion years ago.
Hans Adolf Krebs was a Jew. Expelled from Germany by the Nazis in 1933, he was highly welcomed in England and is considered a British scientist, naturalized in 1939.
His Nobel medal and diploma housed in the original gilt printed case were sold for £ 275K by Sotheby's on 14 July 2015, lot 56 for the benefit of The Sir Hans Krebs Trust, a newly created charity endeavoring to support researchers in biology or medicine prevented by persecution to work in their home country.
1954 Frederick Robbins
2017 SOLD for $ 200K by Sotheby's
The epidemics of poliomyelitis increased at the end of the 19th century to become a highly worrying public health problem at the beginning of the 20th century. The attack by the virus damages the spinal cord.
This infectious disease is incurable. It was defeated by the vaccines. Its total eradication is on the WHO agenda.
In 1949 J. F. Enders, T. H. Weller and F. C. Robbins working together in a laboratory at the Boston Children's Hospital published the results of their research in the journal Science under the title 'Cultivation of the Lansing Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cultures of Various Human Embryonic Tissues'.
Before them the virus was mostly grown in vivo on monkeys. Weller and Robbins directed by Enders reached a decisive achievement by doing this culture in a test tube without using nerve cells. Thereafter the strain growth became easy and cheap. Several vaccines developed by other teams went into mass production in the next eight years.
The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to these three virologists in 1954.
The 1954 Nobel medal awarded to Frederick C. Robbins accompanied by his Nobel diploma and by offprints of some of his scientific papers including the Nobel lecture was sold for $ 200K by Sotheby's on December 12, 2017, lot 35.
This infectious disease is incurable. It was defeated by the vaccines. Its total eradication is on the WHO agenda.
In 1949 J. F. Enders, T. H. Weller and F. C. Robbins working together in a laboratory at the Boston Children's Hospital published the results of their research in the journal Science under the title 'Cultivation of the Lansing Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cultures of Various Human Embryonic Tissues'.
Before them the virus was mostly grown in vivo on monkeys. Weller and Robbins directed by Enders reached a decisive achievement by doing this culture in a test tube without using nerve cells. Thereafter the strain growth became easy and cheap. Several vaccines developed by other teams went into mass production in the next eight years.
The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to these three virologists in 1954.
The 1954 Nobel medal awarded to Frederick C. Robbins accompanied by his Nobel diploma and by offprints of some of his scientific papers including the Nobel lecture was sold for $ 200K by Sotheby's on December 12, 2017, lot 35.
1962
Intro
The birth of molecular biology is the result of a multidisciplinary cooperation between chemists, physicists and biologists. The existence of nucleic acids in the cell nuclei had been identified in the nineteenth century. From 1939, advances in micro-radiography X gave hope to understand the structure of these molecules.
Scientists had identified two types of acids, RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cytoplasm of the cell and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the chromosomes. They appreciated that these acids held the key to the functioning of life.
Two British laboratories of crystallography worked collaboratively. Francis Crick, assisted by the young US doctor James D. Watson, was at Cambridge. In London, Maurice Wilkins was assisted by Rosalind Franklin who perfected the techniques of observation and realized the radiograms. The untimely cancer of Rosalind Franklin is probably due to an excess of radiation dose.
The single helix of RNA structure and the two strands of DNA were among the first discoveries. In 1953, Watson understood that the shapes of the elements of the two DNA strands were identical although these elements were different. Crick and Watson immediately developed the model of the double helix, which was the biggest breakthrough of all time in the field of life sciences.
Both strands of the helix are connected by regularly spaced links which are always constituted by a pair of chains in two couples of possibilities. When the strands are disjoined, the helix is restructured with organic matter for the creation of the second strand of a new double helix with the same genetic message as the original DNA molecule. Before Crick and Watson, no geometer, no artist had imagined this compact and steady structure.
Crick and Watson knew immediately that they had found the secret of the transmission of information in biological material. With this key, molecular biology soon became a major science, leading to understand cell differentiation and biodiversity.
The letter written by Crick to his young son showed that he was aware of the importance of the discovery. It was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's in 2013.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962.
Scientists had identified two types of acids, RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cytoplasm of the cell and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the chromosomes. They appreciated that these acids held the key to the functioning of life.
Two British laboratories of crystallography worked collaboratively. Francis Crick, assisted by the young US doctor James D. Watson, was at Cambridge. In London, Maurice Wilkins was assisted by Rosalind Franklin who perfected the techniques of observation and realized the radiograms. The untimely cancer of Rosalind Franklin is probably due to an excess of radiation dose.
The single helix of RNA structure and the two strands of DNA were among the first discoveries. In 1953, Watson understood that the shapes of the elements of the two DNA strands were identical although these elements were different. Crick and Watson immediately developed the model of the double helix, which was the biggest breakthrough of all time in the field of life sciences.
Both strands of the helix are connected by regularly spaced links which are always constituted by a pair of chains in two couples of possibilities. When the strands are disjoined, the helix is restructured with organic matter for the creation of the second strand of a new double helix with the same genetic message as the original DNA molecule. Before Crick and Watson, no geometer, no artist had imagined this compact and steady structure.
Crick and Watson knew immediately that they had found the secret of the transmission of information in biological material. With this key, molecular biology soon became a major science, leading to understand cell differentiation and biodiversity.
The letter written by Crick to his young son showed that he was aware of the importance of the discovery. It was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's in 2013.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962.
1
James Watson
2014 SOLD for $ 4.8M by Christie's
The 86 year old Watson entrusted Christie's to sell his Nobel memories, offered in three lots on December 4, 2014. The Nobel medal was sold for $ 4.8M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M, lot 1. His handwritten notes for the acceptance speech was sold for $ 365K, lot 2.
The manuscript of his Nobel lecture on the role of RNA in protein synthesis was sold for $ 245K, lot 3. Less than ten years after the discovery of the double helix, this theme highlighted the fact that the physicochemical mechanisms of life were already fully explained.
A portion of the proceeds from the sales were donated by Dr. Watson to the benefit of scientific research and charities.
The manuscript of his Nobel lecture on the role of RNA in protein synthesis was sold for $ 245K, lot 3. Less than ten years after the discovery of the double helix, this theme highlighted the fact that the physicochemical mechanisms of life were already fully explained.
A portion of the proceeds from the sales were donated by Dr. Watson to the benefit of scientific research and charities.
2
Francis Crick
2013 SOLD for $ 2.27M by Heritage
The Nobel gold medal and diploma awarded to Francis HC Crick were sold for $ 2.27M from a lower estimate of $ 500K by Heritage on April 11, 2013, lot 34001.
1963 Alan Hodgkin
2015 SOLD for $ 800K by Nate D Sanders
The knowledge of the physico-chemical functioning of life made its breakthroughs in the mid-twentieth century helped of course by the X-rays but also by the improvement of electricity and electronics.
Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley are biophysicists and more exactly electrophysiologists. The new technique of the voltage clamp allows them to measure the electric signal across the membrane of a nerve cell.
The sciatic nerve of the frog did not allow measurements in a sufficient accuracy. Working in association with the marine biology laboratory of Plymouth in England, they use in their experiments the largest known axon in the animal reign, measuring 1 mm in diameter, used by the squid to elicit a quick reaction to a threat.
The two researchers can then model the electrical behavior of the neuron. This fruitful advance will have a considerable impact on the knowledge and healing of several nerve diseases and will enable to raise a model of the transmission of nerve inputs to the muscular system. The existence of ion channels in cell membranes will be confirmed by others much later, completing the description of the nervous cell.
Hodgkin and Huxley shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Eccles. The Nobel medal awarded to Hodgkin was sold for $ 800K by Nate D Sanders on October 29, 2015, lot 1. It was accompanied by various documents including a copy of the scientific publication associated with the prize.
Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley are biophysicists and more exactly electrophysiologists. The new technique of the voltage clamp allows them to measure the electric signal across the membrane of a nerve cell.
The sciatic nerve of the frog did not allow measurements in a sufficient accuracy. Working in association with the marine biology laboratory of Plymouth in England, they use in their experiments the largest known axon in the animal reign, measuring 1 mm in diameter, used by the squid to elicit a quick reaction to a threat.
The two researchers can then model the electrical behavior of the neuron. This fruitful advance will have a considerable impact on the knowledge and healing of several nerve diseases and will enable to raise a model of the transmission of nerve inputs to the muscular system. The existence of ion channels in cell membranes will be confirmed by others much later, completing the description of the nervous cell.
Hodgkin and Huxley shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Eccles. The Nobel medal awarded to Hodgkin was sold for $ 800K by Nate D Sanders on October 29, 2015, lot 1. It was accompanied by various documents including a copy of the scientific publication associated with the prize.
1978 Daniel Nathans
2017 SOLD for $ 370K by Christie's
The self-defense of the body against viruses depends on mechanisms of molecular biochemistry. The restriction enzymes which attack the DNA of the bacteriophage have been discovered by Werner Arber. In 1970 Hamilton Smith identifies a new type of restriction enzyme whose much more targeted chemical action always breaks DNA at the same place in the nucleotide sequence.
As early as the following year Daniel Nathans, Smith's colleague at the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, uses these enzymes to cut DNA molecules into short fragments and establish for the first time the complete map of a virus.
This experiment conducted with his graduate student Kathleen Danna is one of the most promising inventions in the history of microbiology : by dividing the highly extended molecule into slices, it greatly facilitates further analyzes and opens the way to the use of DNA fragments as medical drugs.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Arber, Nathans and Smith in 1978. On December 5, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 370K a set consisting of the Nobel medal of Daniel Nathans in its box, his Nobel diploma and three publications including his Nobel lecture, lot 199.
This group is sold by Nathans's family to help financing the Hamilton Smith Award for Innovative Research of the Johns Hopkins Medical School.
As early as the following year Daniel Nathans, Smith's colleague at the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, uses these enzymes to cut DNA molecules into short fragments and establish for the first time the complete map of a virus.
This experiment conducted with his graduate student Kathleen Danna is one of the most promising inventions in the history of microbiology : by dividing the highly extended molecule into slices, it greatly facilitates further analyzes and opens the way to the use of DNA fragments as medical drugs.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Arber, Nathans and Smith in 1978. On December 5, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 370K a set consisting of the Nobel medal of Daniel Nathans in its box, his Nobel diploma and three publications including his Nobel lecture, lot 199.
This group is sold by Nathans's family to help financing the Hamilton Smith Award for Innovative Research of the Johns Hopkins Medical School.
1980 George Snell
2021 SOLD for $ 275K by Nate D Sanders
The 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Benacerraf, Dausset and Snell "for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions".
George D. Snell had been a postdoctoral fellow of Hermann Joseph Muller, the laureate of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation", who had been a keen advisor against the long term dangers of nuclear weapons in tests and wars.
Working on the genetic effects of X-Rays on the mouse, Snell then developed the concept of antigenes and applied it to human physiology. His research was instrumental for the success of transplantations of tissues and organs. He made his career in Mount Desert Island, Maine.
The Nobel medal of George D. Snell was sold for $ 275K by Nate D. Sanders on October 28, 2021, lot 3.
George D. Snell had been a postdoctoral fellow of Hermann Joseph Muller, the laureate of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation", who had been a keen advisor against the long term dangers of nuclear weapons in tests and wars.
Working on the genetic effects of X-Rays on the mouse, Snell then developed the concept of antigenes and applied it to human physiology. His research was instrumental for the success of transplantations of tissues and organs. He made his career in Mount Desert Island, Maine.
The Nobel medal of George D. Snell was sold for $ 275K by Nate D. Sanders on October 28, 2021, lot 3.
1990 Donnall Thomas
2021 SOLD for $ 310K by Nate D Sanders
E. Donnall 'Don' Thomas was instrumental in the use of bone marrow transplants for the treatment of blood cancers, achieving a rare 90 % survival rate against some human cancers including leukemia by bypassing infections and immune reactions.
In 1990 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared between Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas "for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease". Murray is the pioneer who made the first successful kidney transplantation.
The Nobel medal awarded to Thomas was sold for $ 310K on December 9, 2021 by Nate D. Sanders, lot 3. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the research center in Seattle where he moved in 1963 and achieved his research.
In 1990 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared between Joseph E. Murray and E. Donnall Thomas "for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease". Murray is the pioneer who made the first successful kidney transplantation.
The Nobel medal awarded to Thomas was sold for $ 310K on December 9, 2021 by Nate D. Sanders, lot 3. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the research center in Seattle where he moved in 1963 and achieved his research.
2008 Harald zur Hausen
2024 SOLD for $ 192K by Heritage
Harald zur Hausen identified in 1983 that a HPV (Human PapillomaVirus) is present in cervical cancer tumors. This discovery led him to assess that viruses can be the root cause for some cancers. They are now identified as oncovirus or tumor virus.
That breakthrough of identifying a link between virus and cancer was obviously worth a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. It was done in 2008. Clumsily the two other recipients had worked in a fully different research, on AIDS. This led to the suspicion that some Nobel committee members had been bribed by a pharmaceutical company in a urgency to market the vaccine subsequent to the discovery. The suspicion was not retained by the committee.
The Nobel cased medal of Dr zur Hausen was sold for $ 192K by Heritage on August 15, 2024, lot 33252. That gold medal is graded MS67 by NGC.
That breakthrough of identifying a link between virus and cancer was obviously worth a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. It was done in 2008. Clumsily the two other recipients had worked in a fully different research, on AIDS. This led to the suspicion that some Nobel committee members had been bribed by a pharmaceutical company in a urgency to market the vaccine subsequent to the discovery. The suspicion was not retained by the committee.
The Nobel cased medal of Dr zur Hausen was sold for $ 192K by Heritage on August 15, 2024, lot 33252. That gold medal is graded MS67 by NGC.
