Marshall and Warren win prize for work on Helicobacter as cause of peptic ulcers
But I thought biologists were too "close-minded?"
This is a great example of how science works. These men proposed a hypothesis that was pretty far outside the mainstream at the time (even though there had been some antecdotal and published evidence regarding antibiotic treatment and resolution of ulcers). They tested it; they gathered evidence to support it; they published their results in the literature; and eventually, they overturned the prevailing notion that ulcers were caused by stress and diet based on the experimental evidence. They didn't rely on think tanks, or mission statements, or pressure from supporters in high places in order to have their ideas accepted--they won over their audience on the merits of their research. Was it easy? From interviews I've read, hell no. But they perservered, others joined them in uncovering evidence that supported their hypothesis, and today, they've been rewarded with one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Congratulations, gentlemen, and let this serve as yet another example of scientists embracing new ideas when they're backed by quality research.
Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for showing that bacterial infection, not stress, was to blame for painful ulcers in the stomach and intestine.
The Australians’ idea was “very much against prevailing knowledge and dogma because it was thought that peptic ulcer disease was the result of stress and lifestyle,” Staffan Normark, a member of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska institute, said at a news conference.
This is a great example of how science works. These men proposed a hypothesis that was pretty far outside the mainstream at the time (even though there had been some antecdotal and published evidence regarding antibiotic treatment and resolution of ulcers). They tested it; they gathered evidence to support it; they published their results in the literature; and eventually, they overturned the prevailing notion that ulcers were caused by stress and diet based on the experimental evidence. They didn't rely on think tanks, or mission statements, or pressure from supporters in high places in order to have their ideas accepted--they won over their audience on the merits of their research. Was it easy? From interviews I've read, hell no. But they perservered, others joined them in uncovering evidence that supported their hypothesis, and today, they've been rewarded with one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Congratulations, gentlemen, and let this serve as yet another example of scientists embracing new ideas when they're backed by quality research.
