The Nobel in medicine is going to Harald zur Hausen, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the Nobel Prize in medicine for 2008 with one half to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of 'human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer' and the other half jointly to Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of 'human immunodeficiency virus.'

Harald zur Hausen went against current dogma and postulated that oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) caused cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. He realised that HPV-DNA could exist in a non-productive state in the tumours, and should be detectable by specific searches for viral DNA. He found HPV to be a heterogeneous family of viruses. Only some HPV types cause cancer. His discovery has led to characterisation of the natural history of HPV infection, an understanding of mechanisms of HPV-induced carcinogenesis and the development of prophylactic vaccines against HPV acquisition.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier discovered human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Virus production was identified in lymphocytes from patients with enlarged lymph nodes in early stages of acquired immunodeficiency, and in blood from patients with late stage disease. They characterised this retrovirus as the first known human lentivirus based on its morphological, biochemical and immunological properties. HIV impaired the immune system because of massive virus replication and cell damage to lymphocytes. The discovery was one prerequisite for the current understanding of the biology of the disease and its antiretroviral treatment.

Harald zur Hausen was born 1936 in Germany, German citizen, MD at University of Duesseldorf, Germany. Professor emeritus and former Chairman and Scientific Director, German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi was born 1947 in France, French citizen, PhD in virology, Institut Pasteur, Garches, France. Professor and Director, Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit, Virology Department, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Luc Montagnier was born 1932 in France, French citizen, PhD in virology, University of Paris, Paris, France. Professor emeritus and Director, World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, Paris, France.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in medicine went to Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for groundbreaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals, which led to a technology, known as gene targeting - used to help study such diseases as cystic fibrosis, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The Nobel Prizes are awarded for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics. The first five prizes were instituted by the Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel through his will in 1895. With the exception of the peace prize, which is handed out in Oslo, they are all handed out in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December.