Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine and Biologists!

     Scientists have been awarded in five fields since 1901. Those fields are physics, chemistry, literature, peace and physiology or medicine. An association which was built by Alfred Nobel gives prizes every year to scientists who are outstanding successful. In physiology or medicine field, the prize is given by Karolinska Institutet one of the well regarded school of medicine in the world that was built in 1810 in Sweden. Nobel prize in the field of physiology or medicine has been won by physiologists and physicians but except physiologists and physicians this prize has been won by another group of people. This group includes chemists, pathologists, veterinary physicians, immunologists, pharmaceutic chemists, virologists, molecular biologists, bacteriologists, geneticists, neuroscientists, psychologists, neuropharmacologists, neurophsychiatrists, histologists, cell biologists, and biologists (and more people in many disciplines we may forget).

     What does a biologist do? Why someone does choose biology as a job? Where does a biologist work? What does a biologist produce? What does a biologist eat and drink? What is the condition of a biologist in the world? I try to answer these questions first. The word “biology” means “life science” originated from Latin language. I am going to use “life scienentist”  instead of “biologist”. I am going to tell short stories in this article. I planned to write this article many years ago but i have chance about writing this article nowadays. I hope my experiences will help life scientists and people who want to be a life scientist.

      “People divide into two groups, physicians and others.” You probably read sentences like this includes ego. Even you probably read “physicists and others”, “tobacco experts and others.”. According to us - life scientists- “people divide into two part because a human has a bilateral symmetry.”, just kidding. According to life scientist, things divide into two major part, livings and non-livings. Observe living things and inorganic environment.

     Life scientists are a large group of people almost take part in every sectors, education, health, food, drug, engineering, agriculture, astronomy, geology and many fields i forget to write.

      If your children, child of your cousins, child of your neighbours or friends are interested in life sciences please help them to be motived rightly. When i was a child -not started to go to school- i observed juvenile of Rana ridibunda turning into adult and observed ants carrying food into their base by objective of a zenit camera. None of my parents realized that i would be a life scientist. This is a passion and i want you to know that you cannot stop. We -life scientists- wonder nature and try to explain mechanisms in nature. Life scientists are scientists. They wonder any mechanism in nature (determine the problem), produce ideas to explain it (we call this idea as hypothesis), and test the idea whether it works or doesn't work. Life scientists don`t like egoism but i have to say “not every scientist is a life scientist”. Why am i a life scientist? I don't suppose to answer this question. This is an inner feeling, a feeling comes with birth. Life scientists are interested in life in this planet and in universe, they try to find out secrets of the nature. 

     Basic sciences are as important as clinical sciences. Basic sciences are essential for medical schools. Medicine is a multidisciplinary field consists of sub-sections of biology. It is essential that a physician must know biology. Life scientists have knowledge about zoology, botany, ecology, microbiology etc. And they choose their own speciality. A life scientist has basic knowledge about all of living creature and inorganic world. This helps them to widen their viewpoint. Last 21 years (2016 - 1996) in the field of physiology or medicine “biologists” have won %42 of Nobel prizes. The list given below helps us to see. Not all scientists` names are given in the list, you can find more knowledge here about other respectable scientists who share the Nobel prizes.

2016 - Yoshinori Ohsumi - Cell biologist 

2015 - William C. Campbell - Biologist

2013 - James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman - Biologists

2012 - John B. Gurdon - Biologist

2011 - Jules A. Hoffmann - Biologist

           Ralph M. Steinman - Immunologist and cell biologist

2009 - Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Carol W. Greider - Molecular biologists

           Jack W. Szostak - Biologist

2007 - Martin J. Evans - Biologist

2006 - Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello - Biologists

2004 - Richard Axel - Molecular Biologist

           Linsa B. Buck - Biologist

2002 - Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz ve John E. Sulston - Biologists

2001 - Leland H. Hartwell - Biologist

           Paul Nurse - Geneticist and cell biologist

1999- Günter Blobel - Biologist an physician

     We really need life scientists in this planet. There are life scientists In laboratories and on ground who work without sleep. Thanks them about raising life standards, finding treatments of illnesses, finding out mechanism of life. Science be with you!