Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nobel Prize offline awards ceremony in 2020 and 2021 have been forced to be cancelled. This year's Nobel Prize ceremony is expected to return to offline and winners from the previous two years are invited to participate.

These scientists include Lu Yuming , who just won this year's Lask Medical Award; Li Wenyu, the winner of the 2022 Citation Award and neuroscientist; Bao Zhenan , a chemical engineer who made flexible "electronic skin" semiconductor polymer.

October each year is the annual Nobel Prize season. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nobel Prize offline awards ceremony in 2020 and 2021 have been forced to be cancelled. This year's Nobel Prize ceremony is expected to return to offline and winners from the previous two years are invited to participate.

In history, it is extremely difficult to predict who will be the Nobel Prize . Not only is this because the shortlist and nominees are secret, but the Nobel Prize is usually awarded to major scientific discoveries decades ago, and the length of time makes every year's awards difficult to predict.

In this year's Nobel Prize list, many Chinese scientists were mentioned, including Lu Yuming, a clinical expert in molecular biology at the School of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who just won this year's Lask Medical Award; Li Wenyu, the winner of the 2022 Citation Award and neuroscientist; Bao Zhenan, a chemical engineer who manufactured flexible "electron skin" semiconductor polymer.

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Lask Medical Prize is known as the "barometer" of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Lu Yuming found a non-invasive test of fetal DNA using plasma from pregnant women to detect characteristic abnormalities associated with Down syndrome. This discovery has completely changed the clinical practice of screening for fetal genetic abnormalities, which millions of people now use every year. He also founded the company based on this principle for the discovery of early multi-cancer, one of which was acquired by the groundbreaking liquid biopsy giant Grail.

Another Chinese scientist who is favored is Li Wenyu, director of the Center for Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania. In September this year, Li Wenyu won the Physiology or Medicine Award at the 2022 Citation Awards. She published a groundbreaking paper in the journal Science in 2006, discovering the role of a protein called TDP43 aggregated in frontotemporal dementia (FTLD) and amyotrophic cervical disorder (ALS). This article has been cited more than 4,000 times. Li Wenyu also won the 2020 Science Breakthrough Award .

In terms of Nobel Prize in Chemistry , Stanford University female scientist Bao Zhenan has potential. She pioneered a new bionic application of organic and polymer electronic material , including flexible " electronic skin ". This technology is expected to be associated with the human nervous system in the future to create an artificial skin with similar functions as human skin.

Chinese scientists can win awards in the field of natural sciences in Nobel , which will be a very remarkable achievement. In 2015, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research results of artemisinin against malaria .

"On the one hand, the Nobel Prize selection depends on whether there are theoretical breakthroughs or epoch-making innovations. If it is only an innovation at the application level, rather than a major breakthrough in basic research, then the award is unlikely to be won; if it is just a lot of citations and lacks important originals, then the possibility of winning is not high." A domestic scientific researcher engaged in basic research told the First Financial reporter. What other popular fields may win awards in

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The mRNA vaccine was highly popular last year, but it failed to make an exception to win the Nobel Prize. This year's mRNA vaccine remains the biggest hit. As of now, the number of deaths from the new coronavirus worldwide has exceeded 6 million.

Nobel Prize Awards Committee also tends to take turns to reward disciplines in different fields, which is called "periodicity". For example, in terms of medical awards, the discovery of neuroscience , cancer or infectious diseases will win the award every ten years or so; the discovery of basic molecular biology and the discovery of disease therapy will also win the award alternately.

In the past decade, the Medical Prize has returned to basic research many times.For example, in 2013, the reward was given to the discovery of intracellular transport mechanisms; in 2016, the reward was given to the discovery of cell autophagy mechanisms; in 2017, the reward was given to the biological clock that controls the circadian rhythm; in 2019, the reward was given to how cells perceive and adapt to the supply of oxygen ; in 2021, the reward was given to how cells perceive temperature. Discovery of clinical applications such as malaria, immuno-oncology and hepatitis C also won awards in 2015, 2018 and 2020, respectively.

This year, which is highly anticipated, has made groundbreaking discoveries on the genetic basis of the disease, including the role of BRCA gene mutations in breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and the role of genetic changes behind various types of thalassemia on new gene therapies.

Another popular area is gene sequencing, for example, scientists who led the first sketch of the human genome may be recognized, including Francis Collins, former director of the NIH , and the inventor of the technology behind the first automatic DNA sequencer.

In addition, John Jumper, the leader in the AlphaFold artificial intelligence project behind DeepMind, which quickly and accurately predicts protein fold, may also win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (First Financial)

Editor: Zheng Chuqiao