This Year's Nobel Prize in Medicine to Immunology

The immune system. Foto: Mattias Karlén

In a feature story in Bergens Tidende on October 21, 2011, Professor Roland Jonsson and Senior Scientist Silke Appel write about the research of this year’s prize winners, as well as relevant research taking place at Broegelmann Research Laboratory, The Gade Institute.

This year’s prize winners

One half of The Nobel Prize was awarded Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann for their discovery of the activation process of innate immunity. The other half was awarded Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and the role this cell plays in adaptive immunity. These discoveries have led to the understanding of how the immune system’s defence lines, innate and acquired, activate. This has further led to increased knowledge about the origin of diseases, and new possibilities for developing methods of prevention and treatment of infections, cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Immunological research at Broegelmann Research Laboratory

At Broegelmann Research Laboratory, The Gade Institute, research on both innate immunity and dendritic cells is prevalent. The research group has, in particular, researched the chronic inflammatory disease Sjögren’s Syndrome. This is a rheumatic inflammatory disease which affects the body’s exocrine glands, such as the tear glands and salivary glands, causing dry mucous membranes. In addition, the group researches how dendritic cells also may be used in the treatment of cancer.

For more information about this year’s Nobel Prize winners, and the related research at Broegelmann Research Laboratory, you may click here to read the BT feature story in its entirety (In Norwegian only).