Nobel Prize in medicine shared

THE discovery of the Aids virus and the role of viruses in cervical cancer has led to Germany’s Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier sharing the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine.

Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier were cited for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV; Zur Hausen was cited for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer.

The German scientist received half of the 10 million kronor (€1.19m) prize, while the French researchers shared the other half.