Bengt Samuelsson shared the 1982 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with his compatriot Sune K. Bergström and British biochemist John R. Vane "for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances." Because prostaglandins are involved in a diverse range of biochemical functions and processes, the research of Bergström, Samuelsson, and Vane opened up a new arena of medical research and pharmaceutical applications.

Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson was born on May 21, 1934, in Halmstad, Sweden, to Anders and Kristina Nilsson Samuelsson. Samuelsson entered medical school at the University of Lund, where he came under the mentorship of Sune K. Bergström. Called "the father of prostaglandin chemistry," Bergström was on the university faculty as professor of physiological chemistry. In 1958, Samuelsson followed Bergström to the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which is associated with the Nobel Prize awards. There, Samuelsson received his...