Our hearty congratulations to Dr. Jules A Hoffmann and Bruce A Beutler and salute and prayers for Dr. Ralph M. Steinman. Dr. Steinman died just before the announcement of the prize but after the selection. The Nobel committee made a great gesture by giving half the prize amount to Steinman's estate. This is a departure from the normal convention of the Nobel committee who do not award the prize posthumously."
The outline of the work done by the Nobel prize winners is given below. Innate immunity is the first line of defence against pathogens which cause infection. When a pathogen enters a body, it should be recognized as a foreign body. Then the human body mounts an immune response that destroys the pathogen.
Hoffmann, working with fruit flies, identified a gene called Toll, that was necessary for immunity. Thanks to this gene, the body becomes aware of the intruder and
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