Infection Detection Wins Nobel Prize for Three Scientists

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine for research illuminating how the body’s immune system recognizes infection and marshals an attack against it, an award made three days after one of the men died.

Jules A. Hoffmann, born in Luxembourg, and Bruce A. Beutler, an American, will share half the 10 million-kronor ($1.5 million) award for studying gene mutations that helped explain how the body activates its first line of defense against microscopic invaders, the Nobel Assembly said today in a statement. Ralph M. Steinman, born in Canada, died at age 68 before learning he would receive the award for research into cells that regulate and adapt the defense mechanisms.