1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine β Niels Finsen
What You Will Learn in This Article
You will learn about the moment when "treating diseases with light" transformed from superstition into science. And the story of a physician who dedicated himself to studying light, even as his own body was failing.
Can Light Be Medicine?
For us in the 21st century, phototherapy is commonplace. We receive ultraviolet therapy at dermatology clinics, use light boxes for seasonal affective disorder, and expose newborns with jaundice to blue light. But in the late 19th century, what kind of reaction would you expect if someone claimed to "cure diseases with light"? It would likely be dismissed as quackery.
Niels Finsen was the one who scientifically proved the therapeutic effects of light, treated actual patients, and pioneered a new field of medicine. He was the first scientist to apply physical energy, in the form of light, to medicine. Ironically, he suffered from a disease that could not be cured by light.
The Zeitgeist β The Age of Light, Literally
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers flew for 12 seconds in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In the same year, Marie Curie received her second Nobel Prize (in Physics). This was a time when discoveries of X-rays, radiation, and electrons were being made one after another. Europe was at the peak of the "Belle Γpoque."
The key keyword of this era was optimism towards physics. Electricity lit up cities, X-rays revealed what was inside the body, and radium emitted mysterious energy. There was a strong belief that all the world's problems could be solved with physical energy. Finsen's phototherapy was a product of this zeitgeist. Treating diseases with light, a physical energy β the era was waiting for him.
Meanwhile, in this same year, a historic event occurred in Korea. On January 13, 1903, the first group of Korean immigrants departed from Incheon Port for Hawaii. 102 Koreans crossed the Pacific Ocean to work as sugarcane plantation laborers. While Europe was enjoying the Age of Light, East Asia was under the shadow of imperialism.
If we were to compare this to the IT industry, the physics boom of the Belle Γpoque was a kind of technology hype cycle. New discoveries in physics (trigger) β peak of excessive expectations (cure all diseases with light!) β disillusionment (radium poisoning incidents, 1920s) β actual application (modern phototherapy). Finsen was one of the rare cases that achieved practical results, rather than just being caught up in the hype.
The Physician from Iceland, Captivated by Light
Niels Ryberg Finsen (1860-1904) was born in the Faroe Islands (then part of Denmark), now part of Iceland. It is located at 62 degrees north latitude, where the sun barely shines in winter. It may not be a coincidence that a person who grew up in a place where light was scarce ended up researching the medicinal effects of light.
After studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen, Finsen dedicated himself to studying the effects of light on biological tissues. His starting point was a simple observation. Skin gets burned when exposed to sunlight for a long time. But why? What wavelengths of light have what effect on the tissue?
Finsen had another motivation. He himself suffered from a chronic illness. After death, it was suspected to be Niemann-Pick disease, a rare disease in which the liver and spleen become enlarged. He had abnormalities in the metabolism of fats in his body, causing his organs to gradually enlarge and his physical strength to steadily decline. In his later years, he could not move without a wheelchair.
A physician who studied light while his body was deteriorating. A person who found a way to treat others, even though he could not cure himself.
Changing the Wavelength Changes the Result
Finsen's key discovery was this: the biological effects of light vary completely depending on its wavelength.
He discovered that exposing smallpox patients to red light (long wavelengths) reduced skin scarring and accelerated healing (1893-1895). In contrast, blue light or ultraviolet light (short wavelengths) exacerbated inflammation. This was a revolutionary observation at the time. In an era when light was simply distinguished as "bright" and "dark," he showed that wavelength was a critical parameter.
If we use software as an analogy, this is parameter tuning at the physical layer. Even if the data (light energy) is the same, changing the transmission frequency (wavelength) changes the response of the receiver (cells) completely. Infrared light = promotes healing, ultraviolet light = kills bacteria. Finsen was the first person to experimentally map these wavelength-specific response characteristics.
His most notable achievement was applying this principle to skin tuberculosis (lupus vulgaris). At the time, skin tuberculosis caused brown nodules and ulcers on the face, leaving severe scars, and there was no effective treatment. Finsen developed a device that concentrated ultraviolet light onto the affected area using a lens, and treated hundreds of patients with this method. The principle was that ultraviolet light directly killed the tuberculosis bacteria under the skin.
However, this analogy also breaks down. In communication, changing the frequency does not change the data content, but in biology, changing the wavelength changes the cellular response itself qualitatively. It is not just a different transmission of the same information, but a difference between healing and destruction.
44 Years, Shorter Than the Light
In 1896, Finsen established the Finsen Institute in Copenhagen. With government subsidies and donations from benefactors, he launched a full-scale clinical study and accumulated hundreds of treatment records.
In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize. Finsen could not attend the award ceremony. He was already too weak to leave Copenhagen. And in 1904, he died at the age of 44. This was just 10 months after receiving the Nobel Prize.
Finsen is one of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates with the shortest lifespan. Although he could not cure his own illness with light, light was literally a salvation for hundreds of patients with skin tuberculosis.
Phototherapy, 120 Years Later
The Finsen Institute continued to operate after his death and became an important medical research institution in Copenhagen. And phototherapy itself has expanded remarkably in the 120 years since then.
In modern medicine, light is everywhere. Ultraviolet therapy for skin diseases (psoriasis, vitiligo), blue light therapy for neonatal jaundice, photodynamic therapy for cancer (administration of photosensitizers followed by irradiation with specific wavelengths), and light therapy for seasonal affective disorder. The principle that Finsen discovered β "wavelength is important" β has never been overturned.
It took a lifetime for one person to prove that light can be medicine. The fact that that lifetime was only 44 years makes Finsen's story even more poignant.