Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday. Giorgio Parisi, Syukuro Manabe, and Klaus Hasselmann received the physics prize for their work on chaotic climate, while Benjamin List and David MacMillan won the chemistry award for their molecule building tool. Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, aged 72, became the second writer of color in sub-Saharan Africa to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, following Toni Morrison in 1993. Anne-Marie Morhed, head of the Swedish Association of Female Academics, noted that Gurnah meets the criteria of being a writer from a non-traditional cultural background but is not a woman. There are two prizes still to be awarded, the Peace Prize and the Economy Prize, by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. There is still an opportunity for a woman to be honored. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Greta Thunberg are two women who are considered contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced in Norway on Friday. The committee is mainly composed of women, with a woman leading it, as was the case with the previous committee. In recent years, there has been a strong effort to diversify the recipients of prestigious awards like the Nobel Prize, which historically have been predominantly given to white men from North America and Western Europe. Despite there being a significant number of Black peace laureates, there has never been a Black winner in the categories of medicine, chemistry, and physics. Professor Winston Morgan, a toxicologist at the University of East London, has highlighted the lack of diversity in these fields as part of his research on inequality in the sciences. He notes that the gender gap in prize winners is particularly concerning, with very few female recipients compared to male winners. Scientists of both genders have expressed their disappointment on social media about the lack of women recognized for awards this year. GenderAvenger, a non-profit organization committed to promoting women's voices in public discussions, expressed concern over the lack of female representation in the 2021 Nobel Prize awards. With only 4 out of 6 categories announced and no women winners yet, the organization questioned if the narrative of this year's prizes is that only men are deserving. However, it was noted that women like Katalin Kariko and Kizzmekia Corbett, instrumental in the creation of mRNA vaccines, were noticeably absent from the list of recipients, sparking disappointment among some, including epidemiology assistant professor Ellie Murray from Boston University School of Public Health. Nobel experts believe that Kariko and Corbett may be recognized in the future, as the committee tends to reward recipients after some time has passed. The Nobel prize has specific criteria and traditions that are difficult to deviate from, but they are likely to acknowledge scientific innovation during the pandemic in a few years. The number of female and Asian Nobel laureates is increasing, but there is not the same trend for Black scientists. He expressed more concern about the lack of black scientists in universities and the need for their support. When asked about the few Black Nobel Prize winners for literature, Gurnah mentioned that the world was evolving. Jesper Haeggstrom, the chairman of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine, stated that the lack of female prize winners reflected the historical under-representation of women in science. He explained that the further back in time one looks, the fewer female candidates there are. Haeggstrom refused to comment on whether gender influenced the committee's selection process, stating that scientific competence is the most important factor. Critics have raised concerns about the lack of gender diversity in the composition of the scientific selection committees, with only 25 percent of the professors on the medicine selection committee being women. Additionally, the Committee for Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has only one female member out of six, with both co-opted members being male. The chemistry committee is made up of six male members and two co-opted members, who are both women.