From the discovery of a mutant mouse to the frontier of quantum computing and new molecular frameworks, ORNL research connects to three of the 2025 Nobel Prizes. The honors in medicine, physics and chemistry underscore how curiosity-driven research continues to drive global breakthroughs.
Mouse House discovery shaped Nobel-winning immunology
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine , awarded to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi, honors landmark research that revealed how the immune system prevents attacks on the body's own tissues. Central to their work is FOXP3, a master regulator gene that controls the activity of regulatory T cells - key defenders against autoimmunity.
The roots of this Nobel-recognized discovery trace directly to ORNL's Mouse House , established in the late 1940s by husband-and-wife geneticists William (Bill) and Liane (Lee) Russell. The Russells built the facility to study how radiation affects mammalian genetics, pioneering a large-scale breeding program that would yield generations of scientific breakthroughs.
In 1949, they observed an unusual mutation in male mice - later named scurfy - that caused distinctive symptoms including enlarged lymph nodes, scaly skin and premature death. (The name scurfy comes from an Old English word for flaky skin.)
