New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- Three scientists have been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering discoveries concerning the immune system. These findings have opened up new avenues for research and the development of therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm announced on Monday that Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi will share the 11 million-krona ($1.2 million) prize.

Mary E. Brunkow (US): She holds the position of Senior Program Manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, US. She and Fred Ramsdell were credited with the key discovery of the FOXP3 gene, which shows that a mutation in this gene causes a severe a...