Peura, who met Marshall when both worked at the university and considers him a friend, said Marshall’s perseverance was responsible for the eventual acceptance of the theory. “Any lesser of a person probably would not have been able to withstand some of the ridicule and scorn that was thrown at him initially,” Peura said.

Marshall and Warren celebrated their new honor with champagne and beer.

“Obviously, it’s the best thing that can ever happen to somebody in medical research. It’s just incredible,” Marshall said by telephone from Perth, the Western Australia state capital, where the pair were celebrating with family members.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Warren said he was “very excited also a little overcome.”

Their work has stimulated research into microbes as possible reasons for other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis, the Nobel assembly said in its citation.

The discovery came about after Warren had observed bacteria colonizing the lower part of the stomach of patients and noted that signs of inflammation were always present close to the bacteria. Marshall became interested in Warren’s findings and together they launched a study of more patients.

Marshall also succeeded in cultivating the previously unknown bacterium from patient biopsies, in part because he accidentally left a sample in his lab over the Easter holiday in 1982 — unwittingly giving his cultures time enough for success.

Together, the two men found H. pylori present in almost all patients with stomach inflammation or ulcers in the stomach or the part of the small intestine called the duodenum.

The Nobel prize in physics will be awarded Tuesday and the chemistry prize on Wednesday. Those for literature, peace and economics will follow.

< Prev | 1 | 2