Nuclear magnetic resonance Fourier transform spectroscopy

The development and current status of Fourier transform spectroscopy is described.Nobel Lecture given on December 9, 1991 by Professor R. Ernst and published in Les Prix Nobel 1991, printed in Sweden by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1992, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

Elementary steps in synaptic transmission revealed by currents through single ion channels

An account is presented of how the molecular basis of synaptic transmission at peripheral and central synapses is elucidated by combining patch clamp and recombinant DNA techniques.Nobel lecture given on December 9, 1991, by Dr B. Sakmann and published inLes Prix Nobel 1991, Printed by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1992, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

G proteins and regulation of adenylyl cyclase

The function and structures of G proteins and their role in the regulation of adenylyl cyclase is reviewed.The Nobel lecture given on December 8, 1994 by Dr Alfred Gilman and published inLes Prix Nobel 1994, printed by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

The purine path to chemotherapy

Antimetabolites of purine metabolism have found a use as anti-leukaemic, antiprotozoal and antiviral drugs, in immunosuppression and transplantation, and in gout and hyperuricemia. Their mechanisms of action are reviewed.Nobel Lecture given on December 8, 1988; by Dr Gertrude B. Elion and published inLes Prix Nobel 1988, printed in Sweden by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1989, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

Enzymatic cleavage of RNA by RNA

The discovery and characterization of the catalytic RNA subunit of the enzyme ribonuclease P ofEscherichia coli is described.Nobel lecture given on December 8, 1989, by Professor Sidney Altman, and published in LES PRIX NOBEL 1989, printed in Sweden by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1990, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

Synthetic DNA and Biology

Most of the significant work has been summarized in a number of reviews and articles. In these there was, of necessity, a good deal of simplification and omission of detail .... With the passage of time, even 1 find myself accepting such simplified accounts.The Nobel lecture given on December 8, 1993 by Dr. M. Smith and published in Les Prix Nobel 1993, printed by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden 1994, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

Drugs from emasculated hormones: The principle of syntopic antagonism

This lecture outlines the early stages in the discovery of adrenaline -receptor antagonists and of the histamine H₂-receptor antagonists. It ends with a brief personal view about future research.Published inLes Prix Nobel 1988, printed in Sweden by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1989, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the Copyright holder.     

Launching Channels: A New Milestone in the Ion Channel Field

Ion channels underlie a plethora of physiological functions not only in the animal kingdom, but also in plants and microorganisms such as bacteria. Even though we have only known of the existence of channels for about four decades, a PubMed search for channels yields over 120,000 papers, with 40,000 of those appearing in the past five years alone. Even before ion channels had been formally discovered, their existence was hypothesized by Hodgkin and Huxley who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for their work on electrical activity in axons. Subsequent Nobel awards for ion channel electrophysiology techniques (Bert Sakmann and Erwin Neher for Medicine in 1991) and ion channel structure and physiology (Rod MacKinnon and Peter Agre for Chemistry in 2003) underscored the contemporary importance of ion channel research. It is noteworthy that single channel recording is one of the most sensitive techniques in biology – allowing researchers to study the function of a single molecule in its native environment in real time.     

一个有重大意义的开创性工作－－浅要介绍2004年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖

Buck及Axel因为他们对嗅觉研究所作出的巨大贡献获得了2004年度的诺贝尔生理或医学奖。他们于1991年克隆了部分的嗅觉感受体基因并最终发现了总数超过1000个的此类基因。他们后来的工作揭示了嗅觉神经通路所具有的非常漂亮的分子组织和解剖连接。他们的工作极大地拓展了嗅觉研究的领域并为功能性的研究提供了坚实的基础。     

Mobile Handset Output Power and Health

The public health situation in Sweden has become drastically worse since the Autumn of 1997. A massive roll-out of GSM main transmitter towers and roof-mounted transmitters that became allowed after mid-1997 led to a booming sale of GSM handsets all over Sweden. The authorities in Sweden have issued a brochure on ‘Radiation from Mobile Systems’ [] stating that good transmitter coverage leads to low handset output power that can vary from 2 W down to 0.001 W []. Thus, we examined health statistics data and GSM coverage in all counties in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Here, we show that there is a very strong correlation between health degradation and weak GSM coverage, while there is no such relation noticed for the time period 1981–1991 when no handset power regulation was applied. The immediate implications from this study are the needs for: 1) a deeper analysis of handset power levels and health statistics and, 2) reconsideration of the planned massive roll-out of yet another mobile system (3G).     

DNA fingerprinting of captive breeding pairs of lesser white-fronted geese (Anser erythropus) with unknown pedigrees

For a number of decades, the lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus) has been almost-absent from the Fennoscandian fauna and has a current population size of only about 60 breeding pairs, with fewer than 10 pairs in Sweden. During the period 1981–1991 more than 200 young have been reintroduced in northern Sweden. However, the origin and possible relatedness of lesser white-fronted individuals were unknown when the breeding program started. We have used DNA fingerprinting to assess the similarity of 18 individuals, i.e., the entire captive population used for breeding in 1991 and about 60% of the captive population used in 1981–1991. Minisatellite probe 33.15 provided an index for an average similarity of 0.39 between the mates of the 12 breeding pairs used for producing offspring for reintroduction. This is a higher similarity than in natural populations of birds in general but lower than in populations that have passed through serious population bottlenecks. Individuals originating from different breeders are more dissimilar than those from the same breeder. However, the close relationships (similarity, 0.5–0.6) found in a group of five individuals from different breeders show that selecting individuals from different breeding groups is not sufficient to prevent mating between closely related individuals.     

Uroglena dendracantha n. sp. (Chrysophyceae) from Central Småland, Sweden

In June 1991 a peculiar Uroglena species was found in two small ponds, the Ugglehult Ponds, situated close to Aneboda, central Småland, Sweden. The colonies contained well-developed spiny stomatocysts. An EM investigation verified that this Uroglena was a new species which has here been given the name Uroglena dendracantha because of the conspicous tree-like spines.     

Salmonella Isolated from Animals and Feedstuffs in Sweden during 1988-1992

The present paper surveys the number of Salmonella isolations in animals and feedstuffs in Sweden during 1988–1992. It is the eighth in a series of reports published by the National Veterinary Institute (NVI) since 1949. During the period referred to, 602 outbreaks of Salmonella were reported in animals, both domestic and wild. Compared with the previous 5-year period there was a 20% reduction in the number of outbreaks (760). Fifty-six different serotypes were reported, 19 of which had never been isolated in any animal in Sweden previously. A temporary increase in the number of outbreaks in poultry was seen in 1991 following an extended sampling before slaughter of layers. A remarkably high prevalence (38%) of Salmonella was observed in snakes in the wild. In 1990, the end-point testing of feeds was replaced by an approach based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) principles for the monitoring of feed mills. Significantly higher number of Salmonella positive samples were found by using this technique compared with the previous analysis of finished feed. It is concluded that the adopted Salmonella control program has contributed to a reduced number of Salmonella outbreaks in animals in Sweden.     

水通道的生物学研究

美国约翰·霍普金斯大学生化教授彼得·埃格瑞博士,他被瑞典皇家科学院授予2003年诺贝尔化学奖,以承认他们的实验室在1991年发现的水通道。水通道或称水孔蛋白的发现为这类蛋白的生化学、生理学和遗传学开创了一个黄金时代。 现在已鉴定了10余种哺乳动物水通道,每种都有其特定的组织分布。在肾脏、肺、眼和脑等组织表达多种水通道,构成水转运的网络。已确定水孔蛋白的基本结构是在细胞膜中以四聚体的形式存在。水通道参与许多临床疾病,包括尿崩症到各种形式水肿的病生理学过程。它们可能是治疗水平衡紊乱性疾病的靶。     

Transformation

The Nobel process for science are often somewhat controversial for who they omit. A posthumous Nobel honor could help recognize some neglected heroes.     

An interview with Dr. Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz on his highly cited paper published in Cell Cycle

Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz is the Director of the Brander Cancer Research Institute and Professor of Pathology and Medicine at the New York Medical College. He received his M.D. (with the highest honors) and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical University of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland and completed post-graduate studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo and at the Medical Nobel Institute of Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. His research is focused on the regulatory mechanisms associated with cell proliferation, apoptosis and sensitivity to anti-tumor drugs. He published over 550 original articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 100 chapters and reviews, authored/edited 12 books and holds 7 US patents. His publications were cited over 23,000 times and 79 of them have over 79 citations each, which ranks him at number 79 in Hirsch’s impact “h-index.”     

Aquaporin Water Channels

Thank you very much. I am humbled, I am delighted; I am honored. This is every scientist’s dream: to give the Nobel Lecture in Stockholm. But I would not be honest if I did not tell you that I am having a little anxiety being on this platform. I have lectured a number of times in Sweden, and I thought I would share with you some events preceding a special lecture that I gave here a few years ago. Arriving at Arlanda Airport, I waited in line at the Pass Control behind a group of businessmen in suits with briefcases. I heard the first in line asked by the control officer to state the purpose of his visit to Sweden. When the man replied “business,” the officer approved and stamped his passport. One at a time, each stepped forward and was asked the same thing; each answered “business” and was approved. Eventually it was my turn, and I was dressed in rumpled clothes after spending the night in the Economy Minus section of an SAS jetliner. The officer asked me the purpose of my visit, and I said “I am here to give the von Euler Lecture at Karolinska Institute.” The officer immediately looked up, stared at me, and asked, “Are you nervous?” At that point I became intensely nervous and said “Yes, I am a little nervous.” The officer looked up again and stated “Well, you should be!“ So if the lecturers look a little nervous, the problem is at Arlanda.     

Availability,uptake and regeneration of phosphate in mesocosms with varied levels of P deficiency

A population of cyclomorphic Bosmina coregoni was studied in Lake Östersjön, southwestern Sweden and results from field samples collected in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 are presented. Animals collected in summer have remarkably higher carapace and prolonged antennule compared to what we call the normal morph. In 1991 the extreme morph reach its maximum body length, body height and antennule length in July to September. The occurrence of the extreme morph coincide with the hatching of the predaceous cladoceran Leptodora kindtii.The two morphs fluctuate in abundance and in relation to each other. In early spring only the normal morph occurred in the samples followed by a period of about two months when the two morphs were found together, in July only the extreme morph was found. In September the two morphs were again present in the lake. As has been shown for other cladoceran, the conspicuous carapace and antennule could be an adaptive response that decreases mortality due to invertebrate predation. Spectacular features like these are likely also accompanied by some sort of costs.     

Control of marine pollution: An essay review

The recently concluded agreement between Estonia and Sweden concerning the delimitation of their maritime zones in the Baltic Sea, the latest in the Baltic Sea region, raises interesting questions with respect to the continuity and/or succession of States. This is the first agreement concluded since the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in late 1991 that is totally governed by this intricate area of international law. The present article, starting from the opposite theoretical opinion both countries had on this issue, tries to illustrate how the idea of continuity has been mitigated in order to arrive at a practical solution between the parties.