47.KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE (Solna,Sweden)
For many scientists around the world, winning the Nobel Prize in their field is equivalent to an athlete’s winning an Olympic gold medal, or to a politician’s being elected President or Prime Minister.
Five researchers affiliated with the Karolinska have received the Nobel Prize, all right—but more interestingly, it is here that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded every year since 1895 (except during World War II).
This world-class medical science center—located in a suburb of Stockholm—produces over 40 percent of the medical research done in Sweden.
It was here that in 1915 researchers discovered the sedimentation reaction (ESR), which remains a useful diagnostic tool to this day.
The Karolinska was also the first to develop methods for the production of pure insulin and non-toxic heparin and other blood thinners.
The institute also conducted important studies on the impact of the fluoridation of drinking water on public health, the use radiation to examine blood vessels, and the purification of myoglobin.
Finally, it was here that the first pacemaker was implanted into a live person, and the foundations for mitochondrial medicine were laid.
This illustrious list of contributions to medicine continues unabated into the present and will continue for the foreseeable future.
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