Politics
Medicine Nobel to trio who identified immune system’s ‘security guards’
A US-Japanese trio on Monday won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for research into how the immune system is kept in check by identifying its “security guards”, the Nobel jury said.
The discoveries by Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States and Japan’s Shimon Sakaguchi have been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases.
Sakaguchi, a professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Centre in Osaka, told Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio: “It’s an honour for me. I’m looking forward to visiting Stockholm in December” to receive the award in person.
The Nobel committee was however unable to reach the two US-based laureates to break the news to them in person.
“If you hear this, call me,” the head of the Nobel Assembly, Thomas Perlmann, joked at the press conference announcing the winners.
The three won the prize for research that identified the immune system’s “security guards”, called regulatory T-cells.
Their work concerns “peripheral immune tolerance” that prevents the immune system from harming the body, and has led to a new field of research and the development of potential medical treatments now being evaluated in clinical trials.
“The hope is to be able to treat or cure autoimmune diseases, provide more effective cancer treatments and prevent serious complications after stem cell transplants,” the jury said.
Protecting the body
Sakaguchi made the first key discovery in 1995.
At the time, many researchers were convinced that immune tolerance only developed due to potentially harmful immune cells being eliminated in the thymus, through a process called “central tolerance”.
Sakaguchi, 74, showed that the immune system is more complex and discovered a previously unknown class of immune cells, which protect the body from autoimmune diseases.
Brunkow, born in 1961 and a senior project manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Ramsdell, a 64-year-old senior advisor at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, made the other key discovery in 2001, when they were able to explain why certain mice were particularly vulnerable to autoimmune diseases.
“They had discovered that mice have a mutation in a gene that they named Foxp3,” the jury said.
“They also showed that mutations in the human equivalent of this gene cause a serious autoimmune disease, IPEX.”
Two years later, Sakaguchi was able to link these discoveries.
The trio will receive their prize—a diploma, a gold medal and $1.2 million split three ways— at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.
Researchers from major US institutions typically dominate the Nobel science prizes, due largely to the US’ longstanding investment in basic science and academic freedoms.
But that could change down the line following massive US budget cuts to science programmes announced by President Donald Trump.
Since January, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has terminated 2,100 research grants totalling around $9.5 billion and $2.6 billion in contracts, according to an independent database called Grant Watch.
Trump eyeing Peace Prize
Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the committee that awards the Nobel Prize for Medicine, told AFP it was “no coincidence that the US has by far the most Nobel laureates”.
“But there is now a creeping sense of uncertainty about the US’ willingness to maintain their leading position in research,” he said.
Trump has meanwhile made no secret of the fact that he wants to win a Nobel himself— the Peace Prize.
Nobel experts have however said his “America First” policies and divisive style give him little chance.
“It’s completely unthinkable,” Oeivind Stenersen, a historian who has conducted research and co-written a book on the prize, told AFP.
“(Trump) is in many ways the opposite of the ideals that the Nobel Prize represents,” he said, citing “multilateral cooperation” as an example.
Trump “follows his own path, unilaterally,” Stenersen added.
Sudan’s networks of volunteers Emergency Response Rooms (ERR) helping people survive war and famine— are seen as a possible contender this year, as are media watchdogs the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi touched down in Islamabad on Friday night amid expectations of renewed engagement between Iran and the United States to end the Middle East conflict.
FM Araghchi will hold meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar during the visit.
The Iranian delegation was received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, along with other senior officials upon arrival in Islamabad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
During the visit, the Iranian FM will hold meetings with Pakistan’s senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments as well as ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability, it added.
Earlier today, Iranian state media reported that Araghchi will depart on Friday (today) for a tri-nation tour that includes visits to Islamabad, Muscat and Moscow.
“The purpose of this visit is to hold bilateral consultations and discuss current developments in the region, as well as the latest situation in the war imposed by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran,” the state news agency IRNA said.
Meanwhile, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan on Saturday for a new round of talks with Iran on ending the war, the White House said.
“I can confirm Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Friday.
Leavitt said that Vance remained ready to fly to Pakistan but will not for now. “Everyone will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary,” she said.
A US logistics and security team is already present in the federal capital ahead of the potential second round of peace talks, sources said.
They said that the development was the result of pivotal conversations conducted by Pakistan’s mediation team.
The talks would come more than two weeks after Vice President JD Vance held the first round of talks with Iranian representatives in Pakistan.
The development emerged shortly after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urged continued dialogue and engagement to resolve disputes between the US and Iran, saying the diplomatic process was essential for advancing regional peace and stability.
DPM Dar made the remarks during a phone call with Araghchi, in which they also discussed the ongoing US-Iran ceasefire, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
DPM Dar and Araghchi also exchanged views on the ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of US-Iran engagement.
The Iranian FM lauded Pakistan’s consistent and constructive role in facilitating peace talks between the US and Iran.
A second round of talks between Tehran and Washington faced ambiguity after both sides failed to agree on their respective measures in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran blocked the waterway after the US and Israel launched attacks across Iran on February 28. Apart from closing Hormuz, Tehran also launched strikes against Israel and US bases across the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mediated a two-week ceasefire between the two sides on April 8 and then facilitated the first round of talks in Islamabad on April 11.
However, the talks concluded without a deal on a permanent end to the conflict.
Following an inconclusive first round of talks, US President Donald Trump announced a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran declared Hormuz open on April 17, citing a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel. However, it closed the strait the following day due to the US blockade of Iranian maritime trade, a measure Tehran considers an act of war.
Despite the hostilities on both sides, Islamabad continued its diplomatic outreach to bring Tehran and Washington back to the table and extend the two-week ceasefire.
Hours before the expiry of the ceasefire on April 22, US President Donald Trump announced extending the truce until an Iranian proposal was submitted and discussions were concluded.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he was acting at the request of Pakistan to hold off attacks until Iranian leaders and representatives could come up with what he called a unified proposal.
The first deputy head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry says Iran demonstrated a “shining example” of defense during the recent illegal US-Israeli war of aggression.
“Iranian Armed Forces showed to the world a shining example of their firm resolve to defend their country’s interests,” Major-General Yevgeny Ilyin said during a ceremony in Moscow on Thursday, marking Iran’s National Army Day.
Iranian forces, he added, stand ready to deliver a proper and proportionate response to emerging challenges and threats.
The Russian military official said the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, with its steadfastness and courage, has protected the country’s defense and security and turned into a reliable guarantor for the nation’s independence and stability.
The unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.
Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.
On April 8, forty days into the war, a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire went into effect but the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.
Referring to the strategic partnership pact signed between Iran and Russia, Ilyin said that both states have maintained their cooperation in many fields.
Iran-Russia defense relations are multifaceted, encompassing areas from the deep sea to space, he added.
The military official also reiterated Russia’s resolve to implement previous agreements with Iran and continue working on plans for bilateral military cooperation.
During the ceremony, Iran’s military attaché to Russia Sadeq Rezaei Moqaddam said Iranian Armed Forces have always been committed to moral principles and differentiated between military and civilian targets.
On the contrary, he said, the US and the Israeli regime perpetrated horrible war crimes by killing 170 students and teachers at an elementary school in the city of Minab, and targeting the Iranian Dena destroyer which was returning home from a naval drill in India.
The attacks on civilian infrastructure and educational centers represent the enemies’ strategic failure to deal a blow to the will of the Iranian nation, Rezaei Moqaddam asserted.
The perfect coordination of the Army units and other forces caused the aggressors to step back and thwarted their calculations, he said.
He further stressed that enhanced technical and military cooperation between the Iranian and Russian armed forces not only guarantees the national security of both nations, but is also the main pillar to safeguarding stability in Eurasia and countering unilateralism and organized international crimes.
- Netanyahu does not disclose when treatment occurred.
- Delayed release of medical report by two months: Israeli PM.
- Move aimed at preventing Iran from spreading “propaganda”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that he had received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place.
In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was released, Netanyahu, 76, said an early stage malignant tumor had been discovered during a routine checkup. He said “targeted treatment” had removed “the problem” and left no trace of it.
According to the medical report, which otherwise said the prime minister was in good health, Netanyahu was treated with radiation therapy for early-stage prostate cancer.
Neither the medical report nor Netanyahu said when the treatment occurred.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister said that he had delayed the release of the medical report by two months to prevent Iran from spreading “false propaganda against Israel”.
In March, during the fighting with Iran, rumors that circulated on social media and aired on Iranian state media claimed that Netanyahu had died.
The Israeli leader recorded a video of himself visiting a Jerusalem cafe in March to refute the claims.
Netanyahu underwent surgery on his prostate in 2024 after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection resulting from a benign prostate enlargement. In 2023, he was fitted with a pacemaker. Elections are due to be held in Israel by October.
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