The 2008 Nobel Prize

The 2008 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists for their work involving two viruses--the human papilloma virus (HPV) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Professor Harald zur Hausen of Germany received the award for elucidating the role of HPV in cervical cancer, while two French virologists, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc A. Montagnier, received the award for their discovery of HIV.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
Until Professor Harald zur Hausen linked HPV to cervical cancer, it was believed that herpes simplex type 2 virus (HSV-2) was the cause of cervical cancer. Professor zur Hausen, however, was unable to isolate HSV-2 from cervical cancer cells. Using specialized molecular biological techniques, he was able to determine that portions of the HPV virus were incorporated into the DNA of cervical cancer cells. Additional research has determined that HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for roughly 70% of cervical cancers worldwide. Professor zur Hausen's discovery has led to the development of vaccines to protect against certain strains of HPV. The World Health Organization estimates that half a million women develop cervical cancer and another 274,000 die from the disease annually.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Following the appearance of an apparently new syndrome involving immune deficiency in the early 1980s, the Pasteur Institute began to investigate the possibility that a retrovirus was the cause of the syndrome. This syndrome was eventually named acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. Drs. Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier spearheaded the Pasteur Institute's investigation. They were able to isolate a previously unidentified virus from the lymph nodes of persons with the syndrome and persons with the generalized lymphadenopathy that preceded the full-blown disease. They were also able to infect lymphocytes taken from healthy volunteers with virus particles released from cells from AIDS patients. This unique virus was named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. The earliest documented case of HIV infection has been linked to a blood sample collected in 1959.

It is believed that as many as 60 million people have been infected with HIV since the AIDS pandemic began. Deaths due to AIDS are estimated to total 25 million worldwide. In 2007, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization estimated that 33.2 million people were living with HIV and that 2.5 million people were infected and 2.1 million died of AIDS in 2007 alone.