Nobel Prize Winners vs. Shuttle Driver

The £780,000 Nobel Prize winners... and the £4.25 an hour driver whose jellyfish find paved the way for their triumph

By Sharon Churcher
Last updated at 1:00 AM on 19th October 2008

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As the scientist behind the revolutionary research that won this year’s Nobel Prize for chemistry, you might expect to find Douglas Prasher working in the laboratories of one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

But while three other researchers shared the coveted £780,000 award for work based on his discovery, Dr Prasher is earning just £4.25 an hour driving a courtesy shuttle for customers of an Alabama car dealership.

Dr Prasher had to give up his research after running out of money but, last night, he insisted he was not bitter about losing out on the award – although he did suggest the winners might like to share some of their windfall with him.
Douglas Prasher



In debt: Douglas Prasher with the shuttle car he now drives for a living, despite his pioneering work with the Aequorea jellyfish to track diseases

In 1992, Dr Prasher isolated a gene that makes jellyfish glow in the dark – a discovery he rightly predicted could be used to study diseases including cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s.

But when he ran out of funds, he handed over his work to Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien, who this month shared the Nobel award with Osamu Shimomura, who conducted earlier research in the same field.

Professors Chalfie and Tsien, from New York’s Columbia University and the University of California respectively, acknowledged that they could not have won the prize without Dr Prasher’s work.