Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
They were honored for discovering how the immune system avoids attacking the body’s own tissues.
Sakaguchi identified regulatory T-cells — “the brakes of the immune system.”
Brunkow and Ramsdell found the FoxP3 gene, essential for these cells to develop and prevent autoimmunity.
Their work transformed understanding of immune tolerance and inspired new treatments for autoimmune disease, transplants, and cancer.
“This prize was long overdue,” said Prof Adrian Hayday.