Three scientists who made key discoveries in immune tolerance, leading to T-cell receptor therapies, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025, according to an Oct. 6 news release.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden — which has bestowed the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine since 1901 — awarded Mary Brunkow, PhD, senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle; Fred Ramsdell, PhD, scientific advisor, at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco; and Shimon Sakaguchi, MD, PhD, professor at Osaka University’s Immunology Frontier Research Center in Japan.
In 1995, Dr. Sakaguchi discovered a previously unknown class of immune cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases. In 2001, Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell presented a link between a particular genetic mutation in mice and a serious autoimmune disease in humans. The mutated gene governs the development of the cells, which Dr. Sakaguchi has discovered, now known as regulatory T cells.
Their discoveries “launched the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases,” according to the release.
Dr. Sakaguchi, Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell collectively received 11 million Swedish kronor, equal to approximately $1.2 million.
In 2024, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to a researcher at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Worcester-based University of Massachusetts Medical School who discovered microRNA, which is crucial in gene regulation.
Other recent awardees include pioneers of messenger RNA technology and scientists who identified receptors that respond to heat and pressure.
