Why is Nobel Prize revered worldwide

The Nobel Prize, established in 1901, is the most prestigious award in the world. Every year, it is given to individuals and institutions for outstanding original research, discovery, and innovation. The Nobel Prize is awarded in five categories—Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. It is given according to the will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel. The laureates receive a gold medal, a certificate, and a significant monetary prize in an official ceremony. This recognition of scientists, writers, and peace advocates devoted to the welfare of humanity guides the world towards new directions.

Particularly in the field of science, Nobel laureates in medicine, chemistry, and physics demonstrate each year how far human intelligence and curiosity can reach. The contributions of the 2025 Nobel laureates in medicine, chemistry, and physics carry revolutionary significance. This year, the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was jointly awarded to Mary Elizabeth Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi. Among them, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell are from the United States, while Shimon Sakaguchi is from Japan.

One of the most complex processes in the human body is disease resistance, or the immune system. These three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking discovery explaining how our immune system distinguishes between the body’s own cells and external invading pathogens. The core subject of their discovery, peripheral immune tolerance, has opened a new horizon in understanding and treating autoimmune diseases.

The body’s immune system is generally very cautious. It attacks external viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens while refraining from harming its own healthy cells and tissues. This capacity is known as tolerance. When this tolerance breaks down, however, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own cells and tissues, causing autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells or organs, leading to inflammation and damage.

At present, more than 80 autoimmune diseases are known, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Brunkow, Ramsdell, and Sakaguchi’s research demonstrated that beyond the thymus gland—the body’s main immune organ—there is a strong secondary defence mechanism operating in peripheral tissues or organs. This process is known as peripheral immune tolerance. Mary E Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell showed that certain specific genes train immune cells not to attack the body’s own healthy cells or organs. Their research clarified how defects in these genes can cause severe autoimmune diseases. Shimon Sakaguchi discovered the importance of a special type of white blood cell known as regulatory T-cells, which are the key regulators of peripheral immune tolerance. These regulatory T-cells suppress the overactivity of the immune system to prevent it from attacking healthy cells or tissues. Sakaguchi’s discovery has brought revolutionary changes to the understanding of autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation, and cancer immunotherapy.

The Nobel-winning scientists’ groundbreaking research not only advanced treatment for autoimmune diseases but also offered new ways to prevent organ rejection after transplant surgery and to strengthen the immune system in fighting cancer. This year, the Nobel Prize in chemistry was jointly awarded to Susumu Kitagawa of Japan, Richard Robson of Australia, and Palestinian-American-Jordanian scientist Omar M Yaghi. They received the honour for the invention and synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This new class of chemical structures has created a revolutionary architectural design of organic molecules, vital for addressing global challenges such as climate change and the scarcity of clean water.

Metal-organic frameworks are porous crystalline materials made by linking metallic ions or clusters with organic ligands. Their structures contain surprisingly large and precisely defined cavities, which are the key to their functionality. Kitagawa and Robson were pioneers in developing these frameworks. Robson paved the way for creating complex three-dimensional structures where organic molecules and metal ions are arranged in repetitive patterns. Kitagawa built on this idea, synthesising MOFs and exploring their properties in depth. They demonstrated how these porous frameworks could absorb and retain various gases or chemical molecules. Professor Yaghi is recognised for bringing this field to an industrial level. He not only refined the synthesis process of MOFs but also developed several types, including zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, enhancing their stability and broadening their practical use.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was jointly awarded to British scientist John Clarke, French scientist Michel H Devoret, and American scientist John M Martinis for discovering macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in electrical circuits. This groundbreaking work demonstrated that the strange phenomena of quantum mechanics—once thought to exist only among subatomic particles—can also be exhibited in man-made electrical systems of visible size.

Quantum mechanics is the fundamental law of nature that explains the behaviour of atomic and subatomic particles. Among its most peculiar features are quantum tunnelling—where a particle can pass through a barrier even without sufficient energy—and energy quantisation, where particles can absorb or emit only specific amounts of energy. Using superconducting electrical circuits, the Nobel laureates showed that these seemingly impossible phenomena could occur in large, human-made systems as well. Their observations, known as macroscopic quantum tunnelling, proved that such systems only absorb or emit discrete, quantised amounts of energy—perfectly matching quantum mechanical predictions. Their discoveries laid the foundation for practical quantum computing, with far-reaching implications for quantum technology.

The key practical implications of their findings in physics include:
— Fundamental knowledge: The research proves that quantum mechanics applies not only to microscopic particles but also to macroscopic systems.
— Artificial atoms: The superconducting circuits created by the laureates can be seen as artificial atoms exhibiting quantum behaviour in a tangible system.
— Quantum computing: John M. Martinis later demonstrated how these quantised states could be used to create quantum bits (qubits)—the basic information units of quantum computers.

Qubits are the fundamental carriers of information in quantum computers. Quantum computers built with superconducting circuits are now among the fastest-growing technologies in the world, and the work of Martinis and his colleagues has laid their essential foundation. Quantum computing works much faster and more powerfully than conventional computers, with potential impact on research, cryptography, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The trio’s work has brought quantum physics from the laboratory to practical use, promising revolutionary changes in information processing and other branches of science.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado for her long struggle for democracy and human rights. The award honours a courageous and devoted champion of peace, a woman who has kept the flame of democracy alive amid darkness.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature went to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai. The Nobel Committee cited his “captivating and visionary” works that reaffirm the power of art even in the face of apocalyptic dread. In its statement, the committee described Krasznahorkai as a great epic writer of the Central European tradition—extending from Kafka to Thomas Bernhard—known for his intensity and hyperbole. Yet his creative reach goes further, seeking the Orient and adopting a more contemplative and finely balanced tone.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to economists Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for explaining innovation-based economic growth.

In conclusion, the groundbreaking discoveries of the 2025 Nobel laureates in Medicine, Chemistry, and Physics have opened new doors of hope and possibilities for improving the quality of human life.

Rayhan Ahmed Tapader: Researcher and Columnist, based in London