Outlook

Certain things taste differently to different people. Why is this, and does this affect our choice of food?

Several human genes involved in digestion have diverged along cultural lines. Research suggests these adaptations influence the range of foods tolerated and even certain diseases.

Researchers are adopting the tools of bioinformatics and pharmaceuticals to study and interpret the ever-growing body of data on the interplay between diet and genes.

Diet-related illnesses are some of the biggest killers today. Can we tailor our food intake to prevent these diseases? Large international projects are underway to find out.

The goals of science have not changed since the early days of the Lindau meeting, yet the way they are pursued has.

John Mather and George Smoot won the Nobel Prize 2006 in Physics for their work on cosmic background radiation. Smoot measured the temperature variation (anisotropy).

John Mather and George Smoot's discovery of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2006.

What makes a Nobel laureate tick? What advice can they offer? And who's asking?

Harold Kroto shares the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996 with Robert F. Curl Jr. and Richard E. Smalley for the discovery of buckminster fullerenes.

The annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have evolved over the years, reflecting changes in both science and society.

Arno Penzias, Robert W. Wilson and Pyotr L. Kapitsa won the Nobel Prize in Physics 1978. Penzias and Wilson's share was for discovering the existence of cosmic background radiation.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1974 was awarded to Christian de Duve, Albert Claude and George E. Palade for their discoveries concerning the organization of the cell.

International meetings and exchanges are creating a universal, globe-spanning culture of science with widespread ramifications.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007 was won by Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for discoveries that led to the development of knockout mice.

Paul J. Crutzen shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995 with Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work on formation and decomposition of ozone.

Together with mentor Martinus J.G. Veltman, Gerardus 't Hooft's Nobel Prize in Physics 1999 was won for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in atoms.

Peter Agre shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry 2003 with Roderick MacKinnon. Agre's half was awarded for his discovery of a water channel protein in cell membranes.

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 was awarded to David J. Gross, H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for their discovery of how quarks interact within protons.

What happens when the spotlight shines on the young scientists?