The Nobel Foundation announced the 2018 Nobel Laureates for Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Peace and Economic Sciences during the week of Oct. 1.  The Nobel Prize in Literature was postponed until 2019.

Each year, the Nobel Foundation, established in 1900 by Alfred Nobel, grants a Nobel Prize to selected members of six fields (Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Economic Sciences, Peace and Literature) who have contributed the most towards the betterment of humankind. The Nobel Prize, as the medal is called, remains among the most prestigious of awards to this day.

Dr. James P. Allison and Dr. Tasuku Honjo won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their great contributions to the fight against cancer. Their research focused on using the stimulus of the human body’s natural defense against illness — white blood cells — to attack cancerous tumors. Their respective discoveries are milestones in the search for a sustainable cure.

One half of the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Dr. Arthur Ashkin for his creation of optical tweezers capable of moving physical objects, allowing for the capture of living bacteria without harm. The other half was shared by Dr. Gérard Mourou and Dr. Donna Strickland for their development of the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever made. Their technique is used in the millions of eye corrective surgeries conducted yearly around the world. Its full range of uses is still unexplored.

Dr. Frances H. Arnold was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her development and refinement of the directed evolution of enzymes. The many uses of her research include the environmentally friendly manufacturing of chemical substances and the production of renewable fuels.

The other half of the reward was shared by Dr. George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter. Dr. Smith won the award for his development of the Phage Display Technique, which uses viruses that infect bacteria to produce proteins. Sir Winter used this technique to create new pharmaceuticals by directing the evolution of antibodies.

Dr. William D. Nordhaus and Dr. Paul M. Romer each received half of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Dr. Nordhaus modelled the relation between climate change and the economy, and his models are used to predict the results of climate change legislation across the globe. Dr. Romer researched the differences between ideas and other goods and services in the market, laying the foundations of endogenous growth theory.

“This year’s Laureates do not deliver conclusive answers,” the Nobel Foundation’s press release on read, “but their findings have brought us considerably closer to answering the question of how we can achieve sustained and sustainable global economic growth.”

Dr. Denis Mukwege and Ms. Nadia Murad jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict,” the Nobel Foundation said in a press release.

The awards ceremony will be held on Dec. 10, 2018, in Stockholm, Sweden, for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Economic Sciences. The Peace Prize will be awarded in Oslo.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Oct. 17, 2018