The Gerty Cori phenomenon: the first woman Nobel laureate in Physiology and Medicine

Gerty Cori was the first woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first woman the Nobel Prize laureate in the United States, and the third woman the Nobel Prize laureate worldwide following Marie Curie-Skłodowska and her daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie. Despite a challenging and lengthy path to recognition, Gerty Cori’s exceptional qualities and strong character led to her success. In 1947, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with her husband and lifelong research partner Carl Cori “for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen”. The Nobel Committee recognized this discovery as one of the most outstanding achievements in biochemistry. Keywords: adrenaline, Cori cycle, diabetes, glucose, glucose-1-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, glycogen, hexokinase, insulin, Nobel Prize, phosphoglucomutase, phosphorylase