The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011 was awarded to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity, and Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity. A press release about the basic findings can be found here.
Bruce A. Beutler
Jules A. Hoffmann
Ralph M. Steinman
Update 1: On 10/13/2011, our lab had a journal club on one of the original key publications – Steinman RM, Witmer MD. Lymphoid dendritic cells are potent stimulators of the primary mixed leukocyte reaction in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Oct;75(10):5132-6. PubMed PMID: 154105; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC336278.
Update 2: Ralph Steinman passed away the Friday before the prize announcement. There are a few interesting news articles on his hard work until the final days and effort on designing new therapies based on his discovery.
From Reuters: Insight: Nobel winner’s last big experiment: Himself
From BBC: Nobel winner Ralph Steinman’s quest to cure cancer – including his own
Update 3: 10/29/2011. A news article from Nature.
Gravitz L. A fight for life that united a field. Nature. 2011 Oct 11;478(7368):163-4. doi: 10.1038/478163a. PubMed PMID: 21993732.