October 6, 2008

Scientists Who Discovered HIV Win Nobel Prize

French scientists Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering HIV in 1983, CNN.com reports.

Notably absent was American AIDS researcher Robert Gallo, MD, who in the 1980s bitterly fought with his colleague Montagnier over their relative role in discovering the virus. Gallo told The Associated Press that he was disappointed at not being included, and Montagnier said that Gallo also deserved the honor.

Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier shared their award with German scientist Harald zur Hausen, who was honored for finding the humanpapilloma virus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer. The three will receive a monetary gift and a seat at the Dec. 10 ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo.

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Steve, Morristown, 2008-10-07 14:19:51
On 5/20/83, Montagnier published his team's discovery of the virus at the French Pasteur Institute. A YEAR later on 5/4/84, Gallo published (also in Science), that his team had done the same, when in fact, he admitted in June of 1991 that his sample came FROM the French lab! To see why Gallo NEVER deserved ANY profit from the eventual blood test for the virus, let alone part of the Nobel prize for his bruised ego and behavior (which has been and to this day remains DISGRACEFUL), read the links.