Why in news?
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

Key Discoveries

• Shimon Sakaguchi discovered regulatory T cells in 1995.
• Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell identified that mutations in the FOXP3 gene caused immune dysfunctions, which control the development and function of regulatory T cells.
• Their combined research showed how the immune system maintains peripheral tolerance, preventing it from attacking the body.

Significance

• Advances understanding of autoimmune diseases where the immune system attacks the body.
• Opens possibilities for enhancing cancer immunotherapies by targeting regulatory T cells.
• Improves transplantation outcomes by better regulating immune responses.

The Nobel Prize winners announced so far in 2025

• Physics: John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit. Their work opens doors for the next generation of quantum technologies like quantum computers and cryptography.
• Chemistry: Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal–organic frameworks. These frameworks have wide applications like harvesting water from desert air, capturing carbon dioxide, and storing toxic gases.
• Literature: Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai for "his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art".

The Nobel Peace Prize (announcement on October 10, 2025) and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (announcement on October 13, 2025) are yet to be announced.

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