New Scientist

Chemistry, Economics Nobel

Stockholm Oct. 8. Two Americans today won the 2003 Nobel Chemistry Prize for showing how water flows across cellular membranes and how cells communicate, achievements that provide glittering insights into the molecular pathways of disease.

``Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon have contributed to fundamental chemical knowledge on how cells function. They have opened our eyes to a fantastic family of molecular machines,'' the Nobel jury said.

Robert F. Engle of the United States and Briton, Clive W.J. Granger, won the 2003 Nobel Economics Prize for their work in analysing economic time series, the Nobel jury said.

Physics Nobel for three

Stockholm Oct. 7. Alexei A. Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg and Anthony J. Leggett have won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said today.

The trio was awarded the prize for their work in quantum physics concerning superconductivity and superfluidity. Superconducting material is used, as an example, in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the academy said in the citation. Abrikosov (75), and Ginzburg (87), hail from Russia. Leggett (65) is a British national.

Two share Medicine Nobel

STOCKHOLM (Sweden) OCT 6. American Paul C. Lauterbur and Briton Sir Peter Mansfield won the 2003 Nobel Prize for medicine on Monday for discoveries leading to a technique that reveals images of the body's inner organs.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, has become a routine method for medical diagnosis and treatment. It is used to examine almost all organs without need for surgery, but is especially valuable for detailed examination of the brain and spinal cord.

Mr. Lauterbur (74), discovered the possibility of creating a two-dimensional picture by producing variations in a magnetic field. He is at the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Urbana.

Mr. Mansfield (70), showed how the signals the body emits in response to the magnetic field could be mathematically analysed, which made it possible to develop a useful imaging technique. Mr. Mansfield also showed how extremely fast imaging could be achievable. This became technically possible within medicine a decade later. Mr. Mansfield is at the University of Nottingham in Britain.

"Well it's, I suppose, every scientist's hope (that) one day that they maybe singled out for such an honour but I must say that in my case I did think about it a few years ago, but then dismissed it," he told Swedish radio. MRI images "have an enormous impact on health care in the developed part of the world today," said Dr. Hans Ringertz, a Swedish specialist in diagnostic radiology.

Worldwide, more than 60 million investigations with MRI are performed each year, the Nobel Assembly said.

MRI represents "a breakthrough in medical diagnostics and research," the Assembly said. Essentially, MRI turns hydrogen atoms in the body's tissues into tiny radio transmitters. Hydrogen atoms are plentiful because they're found in water molecules, which are very widespread in the body.

By tracking where those atoms are, an MRI machine can build up a picture of internal organs.

The award for medicine opens a week of Nobel Prizes that culminates on Friday with the prestigious peace prize, the only one revealed in Oslo, Norway.