All the news and science from the 2025 Nobel prizes

Science Weekly from The Guardian surveys the 2025 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry. The Medicine prize recognizes Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for unveiling regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene, shaping hopes for autoimmune therapies and cancer immunology. The Physics prize honors macroscopic quantum tunneling in superconducting circuits, a milestone on the road to practical quantum computing, awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis. The Chemistry prize goes to Richard Robson, Sassui Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi for Metal-Organic Frameworks, porous crystals with tunable surfaces for gas storage, CO2 capture, and separations. The episode also shares laureate moments and discusses the broader implications for energy, health and the environment.

Overview and Laureate Moments

Science Weekly from The Guardian opens with the human side of Nobel announcements, including a call from the Swedish Academy and the memorable moment when one laureate learned of the award while off grid. The episode weaves together reactions, interviews and the science behind this year’s prizes, offering a clear map from discovery to potential applications.

Immunology Breakthrough: Regulatory T Cells and FOXP3

Nicola Davis explains that the physiology or medicine prize went to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for work that clarifies how the immune system avoids attacking its own tissues. The thymus has long been known to weed out problematic T cells, but some rogue cells slip through. Sakaguchi’s work revealed regulatory T cells, a specialized T cell subset that acts like brakes on autoimmunity, with FOXP3 as a key development regulator. Brunkow and Ramsdell identified the genetic basis of a mouse autoimmune disease and linked it to the human FOXP3 pathway, completing a cycle that connects genetic disease to immune regulation. This dual perspective opens two major lines of medical development: boosting regulatory T cells to treat autoimmune diseases, and selectively reducing them to enhance immune attack on cancer. "they are like the brakes of the immune system" - Nicola Davis

From Gene to Mechanism: FOXP3 and Autoimmunity

The conversation highlights how the discovery connects a genetic mutation on the X chromosome to autoimmune disease in mice and humans, and how FOXP3 underpins the formation and function of regulatory T cells. This work provides a framework for understanding why immune tolerance sometimes fails and how therapies might be designed to recalibrate the immune system in autoimmune disorders or cancer, illustrating a full-circle story from basic biology to clinical potential.

Physics Prize: Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling

Hannah Devlin summarizes the physics prize awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis for experiments that demonstrate quantum tunneling-like behavior in macroscopic electrical circuits. Using Josephson junctions, their work shows that quantum effects can appear not just in atoms, but in superconducting circuits that can be seen and measured in the lab. This foundational step has driven the modern push toward quantum computing, with major tech players investing heavily to harness quantum phenomena in practical devices and systems.

Chemistry Prize: Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Ian Sample explains that the chemistry prize went to Richard Robson, Sassui Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi for Metal-Organic Frameworks, porous crystals with large internal cavities. Robson pioneered the initial concept, Kitagawa improved stability and tunability, and Yaghi showed robust structures that can withstand high temperatures while allowing gas and liquid exchange. The resulting materials have wide-ranging applications, from hydrogen storage for clean energy to carbon capture and removal of contaminants from water, with ongoing efforts to scale production for industrial use. The committee’s analogy to Hermione’s bag underscores the surprising internal capacity of these materials and their potential to transform energy and environmental technologies. "loads of space inside" - Ian-Sample

Implications and the Road Ahead

Across the three prizes, the conversation centers on how deep biological and physical insights translate into real-world benefits—novel therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, next-generation computing, and scalable materials for energy and environmental applications. As the Guardian team notes, these discoveries also illustrate how fundamental research can seed practical technologies that reshape medicine, computing and industry.