Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, two French scientists together with German researchers Harald zur Hausen, sheared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday. The three Europeans discovered different viruses that cause HIV and cervical cancer which helped doctors to fight against these diseases.

The French scientists discovered the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV and Harald zur Hausen was awarded for his finding of human papilloma viruses which causes the cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. The German researchers received half of the 10 million prize and the two French researchers shared the other half.

Hausen, 72, is a scientist and doctor from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. He told the Associated Press that he was not ready for this kind of prize and that they were “drinking a little glass of bubbly right now."

Barre-Sinoussi together with Luc Montagnier have been working on their discovery since the 1980s. Together, they understood the biology of HIV and its treatment using antiviral drugs. This made the two scientists to discover important information about the virus and how this interacts with the cells it infects.

They also discovered a new way to diagnose HIV and helped doctors to develop drugs to fight against the terrible virus. The citation released by the Nobel Assembly stated that "the combination of prevention and treatment has substantially decreased spread of the disease and dramatically increased life expectancy among treated patients."

The same citation said that zur Hausen won because he “went against current dogma” when he discovered the human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes the cervical cancer. This also led to new ways to fight against this type of cancer.