Nobel Prizes 2025: Next-Gen Sequencing, Obesity Drugs, and More in the Spotlight
The Nobel Prize announcements are set to begin next week, with chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, peace, and literature each taking a day. Among the candidates for the chemistry prize are chemists Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman, along with French biophysicist Pascal Mayer, for their work on next-generation sequencing technologies. This follows a list of five life-changing breakthroughs and discoveries considered Nobel-worthy by experts, including groundbreaking treatments for obesity and cystic fibrosis, quantum computing pioneers, and understanding the gut microbiome.
The development of GLP-1-based drugs for obesity and type 2 diabetes treatment has been recognized with prestigious awards like the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award and the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences. These drugs, led by researchers such as Dr. Michael J. Welsh, Jesús (Tito) González, and Paul Negulescu, have turned cystic fibrosis into a manageable condition. Meanwhile, quantum computing pioneers David P. DiVincenzo and Daniel Loss have been identified as 'Nobel-worthy' for their work on quantum bits, or qubits, with a highly cited study published in 1998. Understanding the gut microbiome, pioneered by Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, has shown its role in human health and is long overdue for Nobel recognition.
Predicting Nobel Prize winners is largely guesswork due to the secretive selection process and documents sealed for 50 years. However, the Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, peace, and literature will be announced next week, following a specific schedule with physiology or medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday, and peace on Friday.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in gene regulation. While the mapping of the human genome, completed in 2003, has had a far-reaching impact, it may not have earned a Nobel Prize due to the large number of researchers involved. As the announcements approach, the scientific community eagerly awaits the recognition of these groundbreaking achievements and their potential impact on future research.
