Women Science Nobel Prize Winners

Please enjoy this timeline of chemist Marie Curie, shared by Becca Anderson (author of The Book of Awesome Women Writers)!

Physics 1903: Marie Curie, with others, “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.”

Chemistry 1911: Marie Curie, “in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element.”

Chemistry 1935: Irene Joliot-Curie, with her husband, “in recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements.”

Physiology or Medicine 1947: Gerty Theresa Cori, with her husband, “for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen.”

Chemistry 1964: Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, “for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances.”

Physiology or Medicine 1977: Rosalyn Yalow, with others, “for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones.”

Physiology or Medicine 1983: Barbara McClintock, “for her discovery of mobile genetic elements.”

Physiology or Medicine 1986: Rita Levi-Montalcini, with a male colleague, “for their discoveries of growth factors.”

Physiology or Medicine 1988: Gertrude B. Elion, with others, “for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.”

Physiology or Medicine 1995: Christiane Nusslein- Volhard, with others, “for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.”

Physiology or Medicine 2004 : Linda B. Buck. Buck and Axel were able to clone olfactory receptors and analyze rat DNA to “determine how the sense of smell works in all mammals.” For this, the pair shared the Nobel.

Physiology or Medicine 2008: Françoise Barré-Sinoussi Barré-Sinoussi shared the Nobel for Physiology or Medicine with Luc Mantagnier, her mentor, and Harold zur Hausen, who discovered HPV and developed the cervical cancer vaccine. Barré-Sinoussi continues to work with developing countries to address the spread of and improve the treatment for HIV/AIDS.

Chemistry 2009: Ada E. Yonath For her work on protein biosynthesis and peptide bond formation, Yonath earned the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. Today, she is the director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Physiology or Medicine 200o: Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol W. Both women research telomeres, the end caps of chromosomes created by repeating stacks of “extra” DNA bases. When DNA replicates, these telomeres are shortened and the chromosomes deteriorate—the cause of aging and chromosome fusion, which leads to cancer. Blackburn and Greider set out to find the enzyme that protects the telomere and did.

Physiology of Medicine 2014: May-Britt Moser Moser was honored for the “discovery of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.”

This excerpt is from The Book of Awesome Women by Becca Anderson, which is available now through Amazon and Mango Media.


The Book of awesome women writers

Medieval Mystics, Pioneering Poets, Fierce Feminists and First Ladies of Literature (Feminist Book, Gift for Women, Gift for Writers)

This one-of-a-kind tome takes a tour with Sylvia Beach and other booksellers as well as librarians, editors, writers, bibliophiles, and celebrated book clubs. Join women’s studies scholar Anders as she takes you on a ribald ride through the pages of history. Chapter titles include “Prolific Pens” (including Joyce Carol Oates, author of over 100 books), “Mystics, Memoirists and Madwomen”, “Salons and Neosalons”, “Ink in Their Veins” (literary dynasties), and the titillating “Banned, Blacklisted, and Arrested.”

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