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Nobel Prize: In Memory of Laureates 2025

2025 saw the demise of four Nobel Prize awardees, who have contributed for the betterment of humanity.

A tribute to the Noble Prize winners for the dedication and sharing their most researched research before we mention them, let’s take a look at the what significance Nobel Prize has to the world today.

What Is the Nobel Prize?

  • Origin: Established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and industrialist, who left his fortune to fund prizes for those who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.
  • First Awarded: In 1901, following Nobel’s death in 1896.
  • Fields of Recognition:
    • Physics
    • Chemistry
    • Physiology or Medicine
    • Literature
    • Peace (awarded by a Norwegian committee)
    • Economic Sciences (added in 1969 by Sweden’s central bank)
  • Award Ceremony: Held annually on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, in Stockholm, Sweden (except the Peace Prize, awarded in Oslo, Norway).
  • Prize Components: Includes a medal, diploma, and a monetary award funded by Nobel’s endowment.

Why It Matters

The Nobel Prize honors groundbreaking achievements—from decoding the universe’s secrets to advancing peace and human rights. It’s not just a reward—it’s a global symbol of excellence, impact, and legacy.

Four Nobel laureates—Sir John B. Gurdon, George F. Smoot, David Baltimore, and Rainer Weiss—passed away in 2025. Each left behind a legacy of scientific brilliance, transformative discoveries, and deeply personal journeys. Here’s a brief tribute to their lives and Nobel-winning contributions.

Sir John B. Gurdon (1933–2025)

  • Birthplace & Family: Born in Dippenhall, Surrey, England. Raised in Frensham by parents William Nathaniel Gurdon and Marjorie Byass. His sister Caroline became a nurse.
  • Education: Attended Eton College, then Christ Church, Oxford, earning a DPhil in biology.
  • Scientific Focus: Developmental biology, especially nuclear transfer and cloning.
  • Nobel Prize: Physiology or Medicine, 2012 (shared with Shinya Yamanaka) for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. His pioneering work with frog embryos laid the foundation for stem cell research.
  • Death: Passed away on October 7, 2025, at age 92.

George F. Smoot (1945–2025)

  • Birthplace & Family: Born in Yukon, Florida. His family included judges and legal professionals, notably his grandfather Tal Crawford, Chief Justice at the Nuremberg Trials.
  • Education: Studied at MIT, earning a PhD in physics. His thesis focused on particle interactions.
  • Scientific Focus: Cosmology and the cosmic microwave background (CMB).
  • Nobel Prize: Physics, 2006 (shared with John C. Mather) for precise measurements of the CMB using the COBE satellite, confirming the Big Bang theory and the universe’s structure.
  • Death: Died on September 18, 2025, in Paris, France, aged 80.

 David Baltimore (1938–2025)

  • Birthplace & Family: Born in New York City. Married to Alice S. Huang since 1968; they had one child.
  • Education: BA from Swarthmore College, PhD from Rockefeller University. Early research at Cold Spring Harbor Labs shaped his path in molecular biology.
  • Scientific Focus: Virology, reverse transcriptase, and cancer biology.
  • Nobel Prize: Physiology or Medicine, 1975 (shared with Howard Temin and Renato Dulbecco) for discoveries in tumor viruses and the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which revolutionized understanding of genetic transcription.
  • Death: Passed away on September 6, 2025, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, aged 87.

Rainer Weiss (1932–2025)

  • Birthplace & Family: Born in Berlin to a Jewish neurologist father and Protestant actress mother. Married Rebecca Young in 1959; they had two children.
  • Education: BS and PhD from MIT. His thesis explored molecular spectroscopy.
  • Scientific Focus: Gravitational waves, laser interferometry, and cosmology.
  • Nobel Prize: Physics, 2017 (shared with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish) for the design and development of LIGO, which directly detected gravitational waves—confirming Einstein’s century-old prediction.
  • Death: Died on August 25, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, aged 92.

Sources: Britannica summary, NobelPrize.org overview

Read more: Nobel Prize: In Memory of Laureates 2025

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