Selected Nobel Prizes related to Developmental Biology

Note that many other Nobel Prizes relate to important work that have made modern Developmental Biology possible, particularly advances in chemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. One particularly important one is included below: 'the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP' and featured on the Bio 376 home page.

See also Selected Nobel Prizes in Molecular Biology


Official Nobel website

Physiology or Medicine 1906

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal

"in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system" [Ramón y Cajal is the founder of 'Developmental Neurobiology']


Physiology or Medicine 1935

Hans Spemann

"for his discovery of the organizer effect in embryonic development"


Physiology or Medicine 1986

Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini

"for their discoveries of growth factors"


Physiology or Medicine 1995

Edward B. LewisChristiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus

"for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development"

Brief description / more information about this Nobel (local)


Physiology or Medicine 2001

Leland H. HartwellTim Hunt and Sir Paul M. Nurse

"for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle"


The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002

Sydney BrennerH. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston

"for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death"

Brief description / more information about this Nobel (local)


The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007

Mario R. CapecchiSir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies

"for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"


The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2008

Osamu ShimomuraMartin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien

"for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP"

Brief description / more information about this Nobel (local)

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010

Robert G. Edwards

"for the development of in vitro fertilization"


The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012

Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka

"for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent"