We'll all find out who takes this year's Nobel Prizes the morning they do (sometime next week), but there are some early predictions.
Thomson Scientific predicts this year's
Prize for Physiology or Medicine will go to
Fred H. Gage (adult neurogenesis); Joan Massague (action of growth factor beta); and R. John Ellis, F. Ulrich Hartl, and
Arthur Horwich for their work with molecular chaperones in protein folding.
In chemistry, the publisher is putting its stakes on Barry M. Trost, Dieter Seebach, and Samuel J. Danishefsky, all
organic chemists.
There's even a
poll going among Thomson readers: As of this morning, Massague is in a dead heat with Ellis, Hartl, and Horwich, with each group earning over 40% of the votes. Danishefsky, with 69% of the vote, is a clear readers' choice for chemistry.
Of course, Thomson Scientific is not the only place making early predictions. The site ZiiTrend, which describes itself as a "user-driven online community for predicting future events and trends," currently has
Randy Schekman and
James Rothman in a
narrow lead against Gage for the Physiology or Medicine Prize. Other nominees include Eric Lander and J. Craig Venter (a member of our editorial board). However, most readers -- 68% -- have selected "none of the above."
This suggests to me it's still anyone's game (unlike the situation of my beloved baseball team, the Phillies, after their second loss in the playoffs against the Colorado Rockies yesterday). Any predictions?