2009 Nobel prize for Medicine won by 3 Americans.

(Oct.10,209): Three Americans - Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak
won the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday, for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer. It was the first time two women have been among the winners of the medicine prize.All the three winners solved the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.
“The discoveries by Blackburn, Greider and Szostak, have added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms and stimulated the development of potential new therapies,” the prize committee said in its citation.
The award includes a 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) purse, split three ways among the winners, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on Dec. 10.
Prize founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist established the prizes in his will in 1895. The first awards were handed out six years later..