Elsevier Honors the 2012 Nobel Laureates

News provided by

Oct 18, 2012, 10:05 ET

AMSTERDAM, October 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Nobel tribute website provides free access to laureate research on cellular pluripotency, quantum optics, transmembrane receptors, and market design

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of a Nobel Prize tribute website in honor of eight 2012 Nobel Laureates, providing free access to their research published by Elsevier. The 2012 Laureates will be honored at the Nobel Prize Ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm.

"I'd like to congratulate all winning 2012 Nobel Laureates on their unique accomplishments," says Ron Mobed, CEO, Elsevier. "Many of the Nobel Laureates over the years have been actively involved with Elsevier, and we are very gratified that we have had the opportunity to work in some way with those great scholars in the publication and dissemination of their ground-breaking research."

Elsevier salutes these scholars, and is proud to recognize their revolutionary research and contributions to society:

Medicine: The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent." Gurdon and Yamanaka's innovative research shed light on the ability of mature, specialized cells to be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Gurdon published his original research in Developmental Biology in 1962, and some forty years later, Yamanaka's groundbreaking 2006 paper published in Cell changed the landscape of the stem cell field. Taken together, these discoveries opened a broad array of new avenues for stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

Sir John B. Gurdon has published in a number of Elsevier journals, including Cell,Current Biology and Mechanisms of Development. Shinya Yamanaka is on the editorial boards of Cell and Cell Stem Cell and has published important papers in both journals. He has also published in Current Biology,Genomics and Neuroscience Letters, and contributed to the Handbook of Stem Cells.

Physics: Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland were the joint recipients of this year's Prize in Physics for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems." Using techniques they developed independently of one another, both scientists were able to measure and observe ions and photons in their quantum state without disturbing or destroying them. Their advanced and innovative techniques hold enormous implications for the field of quantum physics - and brings the development of quantum computers and ionic clocks closer to reality. Haroche has published extensively in Optics Communications and the Journal of Luminescence. David J. Wineland has published, amongst others, in Physics LettersA.

Chemistry: The Chemistry Prize this year was awarded jointly to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka "for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors." Lefkowitz and Kobikla worked together to answer a question that stumped scientists for years: how do cells receive and respond to hormones? Working with a team of researchers, Lefkowitz was able to identify several receptors that exist on cells' walls. When Kobilka joined the research team some years later, the two professors sought to isolate and identify a specific adrenaline receptor - and found that there exists a whole family of receptors that look alike and function in the same manner. These receptors are called G-protein-coupled receptors, and they play a crucial role in our bodies' response to light, flavor, odor, adrenaline, histamine, dopamine and serotonin. About half of all medications achieve their effect through G-protein-coupled receptors. Lefkowitz is an advisory board member for Life Sciences and has published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications,Trends Pharmacological Sciences,the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, and Cell. Brian Kobilka is an editorial board member of Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, and has published in numerous Elsevier journals, such as Current Opinion in Structural Biology and Biochemical Pharmacology.

Economics: This year's Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded jointly to Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley. The two American professors took on the complex economic problem of how to match different agents as best as possible. This problem has many real-world applications, for instance helping hospitals match organ donors with transplant patients. Shapley attacked this problem by using cooperative game theory to create an algorithm that ensures that a particular matching is stable. Roth worked independently of Shapley but used his same basic methods - and was able to apply the algorithm to help institutions best match new doctors with hospitals, students with universities, and organ donors with patients. Shapley has served on the editorial board for Games and Economic Behavior and as the advisory editor for the Journal of Mathematical Economics. Both laureates have published extensively in the Journal of Economic Theory and Games and Economic Behavior.

# # #

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).