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Raman Kant Singla

M.Sc (Plant Breeding & Genetics)

L-2k9/10-A-82-M

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Ñn 2005, Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists in the field of optics.‘ 
   was awarded half of the Prize for his theoretical description of the behaviour of
light particles.  
 and   
share the other half of the Prize for their
development of laser based precision spectroscopy, that is, the determination of the colour of the
light of atoms and molecules with extreme precision.

       


      
 


x‘   
 
SEK 10 million.   is awarded one half and   and 
 the other half.

x‘   
    : (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA)
He was awarded Nobel Prize for "for his contribution to the quantum theory of
optical coherence". He created a model for photodetection and explained the fundamental
characteristics of different types of light, such as laser light and light from light bulbs.
His theories are widely used in the field of quantum optics.

 
 : (JÑLA, University of Colorado and National Ñnstitute of Standards and
Technology, Boulder, CO, USAand

  
: (Max-Planck-Ñnstitut für Quantenoptik, Garching and Ludwig-
Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany

 They were awarded Nobel Prize together "for their contributions to the
development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb
technique".


‘ 9  
 
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006 was awarded jointly to  
! "  and
 #   for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the
cosmic microwave background radiation.

 
! "     #   
x‘   
 
SEK 10 million to be shared equally between the Laureates.

x‘   


 
! "  : (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA) 

   #   : (University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA)

Ñn the year 2006, Physics Prize was awarded for work that looks back into the infancy of
the Universe and attempts to gain some understanding of the origin of galaxies and stars. Ñt was
based on measurements made with the help of the COBE satellite launched by NASA in 1989.

The COBE results provided increased support for the Big Bang scenario for the origin of
the Universe, as this is the only scenario that predicts the kind of cosmic microwave background
radiation measured by COBE. These measurements also marked the inception of cosmology as a
precise science. Ñt was not long before it was followed up, for instance by the WMAP satellite,
which yielded even clearer images of the background radiation. Very soon the European Planck
satellite will be launched in order to study the radiation in even greater detail.

According to the Big Bang scenario, the cosmic microwave background radiation is a
relic of the earliest phase of the Universe. Ñmmediately after the big bang itself, the Universe can
be compared to a glowing "body emitting radiation in which the distribution across different
wavelengths depends solely on its temperature. The shape of the spectrum of this kind of


radiation has a special form known as blackbody radiation. When it was emitted the temperature
of the Universe was almost 3,000 degrees Centigrade. Since then, according to the Big Bang
scenario, the radiation has gradually cooled as the Universe has expanded. The background
radiation we can measure today corresponds to a temperature that is barely 2.7 degrees above
absolute zero. The Laureates were able to calculate this temperature thanks to the blackbody
spectrum revealed by the COBE measurements.

COBE also had the task of seeking small variations of temperature in different directions
(which is what the term 'anisotropy' refers to). Extremely small differences of this kind in the
temperature of the cosmic background radiation ± in the range of a hundred-thousandth of a
degree ± offer an important clue to how the galaxies came into being. The variations in
temperature show us how the matter in the Universe began to "aggregate". This was necessary if
the galaxies, stars and ultimately life like us were to be able to develop. Without this mechanism
matter would have taken a completely different form, spread evenly throughout the Universe.

COBE was launched using its own rocket on 18 November 1989. The first results were
received after nine minutes of observations: COBE had registered a perfect blackbody spectrum.
When the curve was later shown at an astronomy conference the results received a standing
ovation.

The success of COBE was the outcome of prodigious team work involving more than
1,000 researchers, engineers and other participants.  
  coordinated the entire process
and also had primary responsibility for the experiment that revealed the blackbody form of the
microwave background radiation measured by COBE.   had main responsibility for
measuring the small variations in the temperature of the radiation.

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005 was awarded jointly to ë 
   and  
 
A 
    

 
 
   

  A

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x‘   
This year's Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine made the remarkable and
unexpected discovery that inflammation in the stomach (gastritis) as well as ulceration of the
stomach or duodenum (peptic ulcer disease) is the result of an infection of the stomach caused by
the bacterium relicobacter pylori.

 
 
(born 1937), a pathologist from Perth, Australia, observed small curved
bacteria colonizing the lower part of the stomach (antrum) in about 50% of patients from which
biopsies had been taken. He made the crucial observation that signs of inflammation were always
present in the gastric mucosa close to where the bacteria were seen.

ë    (born 1951), a young clinical fellow, became interested in Warren's


findings and together they initiated a study of biopsies from 100 patients. After several attempts,
Marshall succeeded in cultivating a hitherto unknown bacterial species (later denoted
relicobacter pylori) from several of these biopsies. Together they found that the organism was
present in almost all patients with gastric inflammation, duodenal ulcer or gastric ulcer. Based on
these results, they proposed that relicobacter pylori is involved in the aetiology of these diseases.

Even though peptic ulcers could be healed by inhibiting gastric acid production, they
frequently relapsed, since bacteria and chronic inflammation of the stomach remained. Ñn
treatment studies, Marshall and Warren as well as others showed that patients could be cured
from their peptic ulcer disease only when the bacteria were eradicated from the stomach. Thanks
to the pioneering discovery by Marshall and Warren, peptic ulcer disease is no longer a chronic,
frequently disabling condition, but a disease that can be cured by a short regimen of antibiotics
and acid secretion inhibitors.

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'   
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Barry Marshall and Robin
Warren, who with tenacity and a prepared mind challenged prevailing dogmas. By using
technologies generally available (fibre endoscopy, silver staining of histological sections and
culture techniques for microaerophilic bacteria), they made an irrefutable case that the bacterium
relicobacter pylori is causing disease. By culturing the bacteria they made them amenable to
scientific study.
Ñn 1982, when this bacterium was discovered by Marshall and Warren, stress and lifestyle
were considered the major causes of peptic ulcer disease. Ñt is now firmly established that
relicobacter pylori causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers.
The link between relicobacter pylori infection and subsequent gastritis and peptic ulcer disease
has been established through studies of human volunteers, antibiotic treatment studies and
epidemiological studies.


 
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' 

relicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped Gram-negative bacterium that colonizes the
stomach in about 50% of all humans. Ñn countries with high socio-economic standards infection is
considerably less common than in developing countries where virtually everyone may be
infected.
Ñnfection is typically contracted in early childhood, frequently by transmission from
mother to child, and the bacteria may remain in the stomach for the rest of the person's life. This
chronic infection is initiated in the lower part of the stomach (antrum). As first reported by Robin
Warren, the presence of relicobacter pylori is always associated with an inflammation of the
underlying gastric mucosa as evidenced by an infiltration of inflammatory cells.

6

' 
      
    
The severity of this inflammation and its location in the stomach is of crucial importance
for the diseases that can result from relicobacter pylori infection. Ñn most individuals
relicobacter pylori infection is asymptomatic. However, about 10-15% of infected individuals
will some time experience peptic ulcer disease. Such ulcers are more common in the duodenum
than in the stomach itself. Severe complications include bleeding and perforation.
The current view is that the chronic inflammation in the distal part of the stomach caused
by relicobacter pylori infection results in an increased acid production from the non-infected
upper corpus region of the stomach. This will predispose for ulcer development in the more
vulnerable duodenum.

 

   " 
 
 
' 

Ñn some individuals relicobacter pylori also infects the corpus region of the stomach.
This results in a more widespread inflammation that predisposes not only to ulcer in the corpus
region, but also to stomach cancer. This cancer has decreased in incidence in many countries
during the last half-century but still ranks as number two in the world in terms of cancer deaths.
Ñnflammation in the stomach mucosa is also a risk factor for a special type of lymphatic
neoplasm in the stomach, MALT (mucosa associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma. Since such
lymphomas may regress when relicobacter pylori is eradicated by antibiotics, the bacterium
plays an important role in perpetuating this tumour.

×  
&
  
 "
     
  
  
relicobacter pylori is present only in humans and has adapted to the stomach
environment. Only a minority of infected individuals develop stomach disease. After Marshall's
and Warren's discovery, research has been intense. Details underlying the exact pathogenetic
mechanisms are continuously being unravelled.
The bacterium itself is extremely variable, and strains differ markedly in many aspects,
such as adherence to the gastric mucosa and ability to provoke inflammation. Even in a single
infected individual all bacteria are not identical, and during the course of chronic infection
bacteria adapt to the changing conditions in the stomach with time.
Likewise, genetic variations among humans may affect their susceptibility to
relicobacter pylori. Not until recently has an animal model been established, the Mongolian
gerbil. Ñn this animal, studies of peptic ulcer disease and malignant transformation promise to
give more detailed information on disease mechanisms.

Ê
   
   

relicobacter pylori infection can be diagnosed by antibody tests, by identifying the
organism in biopsies taken during endoscopy, or by the non-invasive breath test that identifies
bacterial production of an enzyme in the stomach.
An indiscriminate use of antibiotics to eradicate relicobacter pylori also from healthy
carriers would lead to severe problems with bacterial resistance against these important drugs.
Therefore, treatment against relicobacter pylori should be used restrictively in patients without
documented gastric or duodenal ulcer disease.

   
 '  

'  
 

Many diseases in humans such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis
and atherosclerosis are due to chronic inflammation. The discovery that one of the most common
diseases of mankind, peptic ulcer disease, has a microbial cause, has stimulated the search for
microbes as possible causes of other chronic inflammatory conditions.

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Even though no definite answers are at hand, recent data clearly suggest that a
dysfunction in the recognition of microbial products by the human immune system can result in
disease development. The discovery of relicobacter pylori has led to an increased understanding
of the connection between chronic infection, inflammation and cancer.






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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2006 was awarded jointly to Ê
 "(# 
and ! ! A 
    
 
  
A


Ê
 "(  #    ! ! 
 

x‘   
This year's Nobel Laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling
the flow of genetic information. Our genome operates by sending instructions for the manufacture
of proteins from DNA in the nucleus of the cell to the protein synthesizing machinery in the
cytoplasm. These instructions are conveyed by messenger RNA (mRNA). Ñn 1998, the American
scientists Andrew Fire and Craig Mello published their discovery of a mechanism that can
degrade mRNA from a specific gene. This mechanism, RNA interference, is activated when RNA
molecules occur as double-stranded pairs in the cell. Double-stranded RNA activates biochemical
machinery which degrades those mRNA molecules that carry a genetic code identical to that of
the double-stranded RNA. When such mRNA molecules disappear, the corresponding gene is
silenced and no protein of the encoded type is made.
RNA interference occurs in plants, animals, and humans. Ñt is of great importance for the
regulation of gene expression, participates in defense against viral infections, and keeps jumping
genes under control. RNA interference is already being widely used in basic science as a method
to study the function of genes and it may lead to novel therapies in the future.

' " '


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The genetic code in DNA determines how proteins are built. The instructions contained
in the DNA are copied to mRNA and subsequently used to synthesize proteins (Fig 1). This flow
of genetic information from DNA via mRNA to protein has been termed the central dogma of
molecular biology by the British Nobel Laureate Francis Crick. Proteins are involved in all

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processes of life, for instance as enzymes digesting our food, receptors receiving signals in the
brain, and as antibodies defending us against bacteria. 

Our genome consists of approximately 30,000 genes. However, only a fraction of them
are used in each cell. Which genes are expressed (i.e. govern the synthesis of new proteins) is
controlled by the machinery that copies DNA to mRNA in a process called transcription. Ñt, in
turn, can be modulated by various factors. The fundamental principles for the regulation of gene
expression were identified more than 40 years ago by the French Nobel Laureates François Jacob
and Jacques Monod. Today, we know that similar principles operate throughout evolution, from
bacteria to humans. They also form the basis for gene technology, in which a DNA sequence is
introduced into a cell to produce new protein.

Around 1990, molecular biologists obtained a number of unexpected results that were
difficult to explain. The most striking effects were observed by plant biologists who were trying
to increase the colour intensity of the petals in petunias by introducing a gene inducing the
formation of red pigment in the flowers. But instead of intensifying the colour, this treatment led
to a complete loss of colour and the petals turned white! The mechanism causing these effects
remained enigmatic until Fire and Mello made the discovery for which they receive this year's
Nobel Prize.

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Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were investigating how gene expression is regulated in the
nematode worm Jaenorhabditis elegans (Fig. 2). Ñnjecting mRNA molecules encoding a muscle
protein led to no changes in the behaviour of the worms. The genetic code in mRNA is described
as being the 'sense' sequence, and injecting 'antisense' RNA, which can pair with the mRNA, also
had no effect. But when Fire and Mello injected sense and antisense RNA together, they observed
that the worms displayed peculiar, twitching movements. Similar movements were seen in worms
that completely lacked a functioning gene for the muscle protein. What had happened?

When sense and antisense RNA molecules meet, they bind to each other and form
double-stranded RNA. Could it be that such a double-stranded RNA molecule silences the gene
carrying the same code as this particular RNA? Fire and Mello tested this hypothesis by injecting
double-stranded RNA molecules containing the genetic codes for several other worm proteins. Ñn
every experiment, injection of double-stranded RNA carrying a genetic code led to silencing of
the gene containing that particular code. The protein encoded by that gene was no longer formed.

After a series of simple but elegant experiments, Fire and Mello deduced that double-
stranded RNA can silence genes that this RNA interference is specific for the gene whose code
matches that of the injected RNA molecule, and that RNA interference can spread between cells
and even be inherited. Ñt was enough to inject tiny amounts of double-stranded RNA to achieve
an effect, and Fire and Mello therefore proposed that RNA interference (now commonly
abbreviated to RNAi) is a catalytic process.

Fire and Mello published their findings in the journal 9ature on February 19, 1998. Their
discovery clarified many confusing and contradictory experimental observations and revealed a

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natural mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information. This heralded the start of a
new research field.

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The components of the RNAi machinery were identified during the following years (Fig
3). Double-stranded RNA binds to a protein complex, Dicer, which cleaves it into fragments.
Another protein complex, RÑSC, binds these fragments. One of the RNA strands is eliminated but
the other remains bound to the RÑSC complex and serves as a probe to detect mRNA molecules.
When an mRNA molecule can pair with the RNA fragment on RÑSC, it is bound to the RÑSC
complex, cleaved and degraded. The gene served by this particular mRNA has been silenced.

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RNA interference is important in the defense against viruses, particularly in lower


organisms. Many viruses have a genetic code that contains double-stranded RNA. When such a
virus infects a cell, it injects its RNA molecule, which immediately binds to Dicer (Fig 4A). The
RÑSC complex is activated, viral RNA is degraded, and the cell survives the infection. Ñn addition
to this defense, higher organisms such as man have developed an efficient immune defense
involving antibodies, killer cells, and interferons.

Jumping genes, also known as transposons, are DNA sequences that can move around in
the genome. They are present in all organisms and can cause damage if they end up in the wrong
place. Many transposons operate by copying their DNA to RNA, which is then reverse-
transcribed back to DNA and inserted at another site in the genome. Part of this RNA molecule is
often double-stranded and can be targeted by RNA interference. Ñn this way, RNA interference
protects the genome against transposons.

9Ê
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RNA interference is used to regulate gene expression in the cells of humans as well as
worms (Fig 4B). Hundreds of genes in our genome encode small RNA molecules called
microRNAs. They contain pieces of the code of other genes. Such a microRNA molecule can
form a double-stranded structure and activate the RNA interference machinery to block protein
synthesis. The expression of that particular gene is silenced. We now understand that genetic
regulation by microRNAs plays an important role in the development of the organism and the
control of cellular functions.

9" 
 
    +
 
 
   

RNA interference opens up exciting possibilities for use in gene technology. Double-
stranded RNA molecules have been designed to activate the silencing of specific genes in
humans, animals or plants (Fig 4C). Such silencing RNA molecules are introduced into the cell
and activate the RNA interference machinery to break down mRNA with an identical code. 

This method has already become an important research tool in biology and biomedicine.
Ñn the future, it is hoped that it will be used in many disciplines including clinical medicine and

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agriculture. Several recent publications show successful gene silencing in human cells and
experimental animals. For instance, a gene causing high blood cholesterol levels was recently
shown to be silenced by treating animals with silencing RNA. Plans are underway to develop
silencing RNA as a treatment for virus infections, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, endocrine
disorders and several other conditions.

Reference:
Fire A., Xu S.Q., Montgomery M.K., Kostas S.A., Driver S.E., Mello C.C. Potent and specific genetic
interference by double-stranded RNA in Jaenorhabditis elegans. Nature 1998; 391:806-811.

Andrew Z. Fire, born 1959, US citizen, PhD in Biology 1983, Massachusetts Ñnstitute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA, USA. Professor of Pathology and Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine,
Stanford, CA, USA.

Craig C. Mello, born 1960, US citizen, PhD in Biology 1990, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Professor of Molecular Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Ñnstitute Ñnvestigator, Program in
Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.

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! 
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2005 was awarded jointly to Yves Chauvin, Robert H.
Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock Afor the development of the metathesis method in organic
synthesisA.

   
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        


x‘   
 
SEK 10 million will be shared equally among the Laureates.
x‘   
,)! )
(Ñnstitut Français du Pétrole, Rueil-Malmaison, France)
   (California Ñnstitute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA)
  (Massachusetts Ñnstitute of Technology (MÑT), Cambridge, MA,
USA)

 & 
 
 


This year's Nobel Prize Laureates in chemistry have made metathesis into one of organic
chemistry's most important reactions. Fantastic opportunities have been created for producing many new
molecules - pharmaceuticals, for example. Ñmagination will soon be the only limit to what molecules can
be built!

Organic substances contain the element carbon. Carbon atoms can form long chains and rings,
bind other elements such as hydrogen and oxygen, form double bonds, etc. All life on Earth is based on
these carbon compounds, but they can also be produced artificially through organic synthesis.

The word metathesis means 'change-places'. Ñn metathesis reactions, double bonds are broken and
made between carbon atoms in ways that cause atom groups to change places. This happens with the
assistance of special catalyst molecules. Metathesis can be compared to a dance in which the couples
change partners.

Ñn 1971 ,)! )
was able to explain in detail how metatheses reactions function and what
types of metal compound act as catalysts in the reactions. Now the "recipe" was known. The next step
was, if possible, to develop the actual catalysts.

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  was the first to produce an efficient metal-compound catalyst for methasesis. This was
in 1990. Two years later    developed an even better catalyst, stable in air, that has found
many applications.

Metathesis is used daily in the chemical industry, mainly in the development of pharmaceuticals and of
advanced plastic materials. Thanks to the Laureates' contributions, synthesis methods have been
developed that are

x‘ more efficient (fewer reaction steps, fewer resources required, less wastage),
x‘ simpler to use (stable in air, at normal temperatures and pressures) and
x‘ environmentally friendlier (non-injurious solvents, less hazardous waste products).

This represents a great step forward for "green chemistry", reducing potentially hazardous waste
through smarter production. Metathesis is an example of how important basic science has been applied for
the benefit of man, society and the environment.

‘ 9  
!  
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2006 was awarded to Roger D. Kornberg Afor his studies
of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcriptionA.


  ×-
 
x‘   
 
SEK 10 million.
x‘   
  ×-
 (Stanford University, CA, USA)

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Ñn order for our bodies to make use of the information stored in the genes, a copy must first be
made and transferred to the outer parts of the cells. There it is used as an instruction for protein
production ± it is the proteins that in their turn actually construct the organism and its function. The
copying process is called transcription.   -
  was the first to create an actual picture of how

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transcription works at a molecular level in the important group of organisms called eukaryotes (organisms
whose cells have a well-defined nucleus). Mammals like ourselves are included in this group, as is
ordinary yeast.

Transcription is necessary for all life. This makes the detailed description of the mechanism that
Roger Kornberg provides exactly the kind of "most important chemical discovery" referred to by Alfred
Nobel in his will.

Ñf transcription stops, genetic information is no longer transferred into the different parts of the
body. Since these are then no longer renewed, the organism dies within a few days. This is what happens
in cases of poisoning by certain toadstools, like the death cap, since the toxin stops the transcription
process. Understanding of how transcription works also has a fundamental medical importance.
Disturbances in the transcription process are involved in many human illnesses such as cancer, heart
disease and various kinds of inflammation.

The capacity of stem cells to develop into different types of specific cells with well-defined
functions in different organs is also linked to how the transcription is regulated. Understanding more
about the transcription process is therefore important for the development of different therapeutic
applications of stem cells.

Forty-seven years ago, the then twelve-year-old Roger Kornberg came to Stockholm to see his
father, Arthur Kornberg, receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1959) for his studies of how
genetic information is transferred from one DNA-molecule to another. Kornberg senior had described
how genetic information is transferred from a mother cell to its daughters. What Roger Kornberg himself
has now done is to describe how the genetic information is copied from DNA into what is called
messenger-RNA. The messenger-RNA carries the information out of the cell nucleus so that it can be
used to construct the proteins.

Kornberg's contribution has culminated in his creation of detailed crystallographic pictures


describing the transcription apparatus in full action in a eukaryotic cell. Ñn his pictures (all of them created
since 2000) we can see the new RNA-strand gradually developing, as well as the role of several other
molecules necessary for the transcription process. The pictures are so detailed that separate atoms can be
distinguished and this makes it possible to understand the mechanisms of transcription and how it is
regulated.

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Reference:
Cramer, P., Bushnell, D.A. and Kornberg, R.D. (2001) Structural basis of transcription: RNA polymerase
ÑÑ at 2.8 ångstrom resolution. Science 292, 1863-1876.

Gnatt, A.L., Cramer, P., Fu, J., Bushnell, D.A. and Kornberg, R.D. (2001) Structural basis of
transcription: An RNA polymerase ÑÑ elongation complex at 3.3 Å resolution. Science 292, 1876-1882.

Bushnell, D.A., Westover, K.D., Davis, R.E. and Kornberg, R.D. (2004) Structural basis of transcription:
An RNA polymerase ÑÑ ± TFÑÑB cocrystal at 4.5 angstroms. Science 303, 983-988.

Review article:
Boeger, H., Bushnell, D.A., Davis, R., Griesenbeck, J., Lorch, Y., Strattan, J.S., Westover, K.D. and
Kornberg, R.D.(2005). Structural basis of eukaryotic gene transcription. FEBS Lett. 579, 899-903.
Link:
Film of transcription: The Dolan DNA learning center ± genes in education.
http://www.dnalc.org/home.html.
Media showcase; Transcription: DNA codes for mRNA, 3D animation.

 

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§‘ 9  
 
The Nobel Peace Prize 2005 was awarded jointly to Ñnternational Atomic Energy Agency
(ÑAEA) and Mohamed ElBaradei Afor their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being
used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is
used in the safest possible wayA

 

  .ë 

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 is to be
shared, in two equal parts, between the /


Ê .
 Ê
%/Ê.Ê and its ×  

 +  .ë , for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military
purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.

At a time when the threat of nuclear arms is again increasing, the Norwegian Nobel Committee
wishes to underline that this threat must be met through the broadest possible international cooperation.
This principle finds its clearest expression today in the work of the ÑAEA and its Director General. Ñn the
nuclear non-proliferation regime, it is the ÑAEA which controls that nuclear energy is not misused for
military purposes, and the Director General has stood out as an unafraid advocate of new measures to
strengthen that regime. At a time when disarmament efforts appear deadlocked, when there is a danger
that nuclear arms will spread both to states and to terrorist groups, and when nuclear power again appears
to be playing an increasingly significant role, ÑAEA's work is of incalculable importance.

Ñn his will, Alfred Nobel wrote that the Peace Prize should, among other criteria, be awarded to
whoever had done most for the "abolition or reduction of standing armies". Ñn its application of this
criterion in recent decades, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has concentrated on the struggle to diminish
the significance of nuclear arms in international politics, with a view to their abolition. That the world has
achieved little in this respect makes active opposition to nuclear arms all the more important today.


Œ‘ 9  
  
The Nobel Peace Prize 2006 was awarded jointly to Muhammad Yunus and
Grameen Bank Afor their efforts to create economic and social development from
belowA

  

   ,


The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided
into two equal parts, to    ,
 and  

 for their efforts to create economic and
social development from below. Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find
ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also
serves to advance democracy and human rights.

Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into
practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other
countries. Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea.
From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank,
developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Grameen
Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have
sprung up around the world.

Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across
cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can
work to bring about their own development.

Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in


particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions. Economic growth and
political democracy cannot achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on
an equal footing with the male.

Yunus's long-term vision is to eliminate poverty in the world. That vision cannot be realized by
means of micro-credit alone. But Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that, in the
continuing efforts to achieve it, micro-credit must play a major part.

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