2025 Nobel in Medicine Awarded to Brunkow, Ramsdell & Sakaguchi

Current Context: The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded on 6 October 2025 to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi.

• They were honoured for their discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance and the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in preventing autoimmune diseases.
• In 1995, Sakaguchi identified Tregs, which act as immune “brakes” to stop the body from attacking itself.
• In 2001, Brunkow and Ramsdell discovered the FOXP3 gene, mutations of which cause IPEX syndrome (Immune dysregulation, Polyendocrinopathy, Enteropathy, X‑linked syndrome).
• By 2003, Sakaguchi linked FOXP3 to Treg development, proving their central role in immune balance.

Question:

Q.1 The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for discoveries related to:
a) Cancer immunotherapy
b) RNA interference
c) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene editing
d) Peripheral immune tolerance and Regulatory T cells (Tregs)

Answer: d) Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi were honoured for their discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance and the role of Regulatory T cells (Tregs) in preventing autoimmune diseases.