Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research 2023

Jeffrey Gordon has spearheaded the study of the human microbiome, the set of microorganisms that inhabit our intestines (tens of trillions: several times more than the total number of our own cells), and their influence on human health, not only in nutrition, digestion and metabolism (diabetes, obesity, malnutrition), but also in the immune and neurological development of children and young people.

Bonnie L. Bassler and E. Peter Greenberg are pioneers in the study of inter-bacterial communication through the emission of certain substances and how the formation of large groups generates behaviour which differs from that produced when they are isolated. This is called ‘quorum sensing’ (a term coined by Greenberg in a 1994 scientific article).