A German, responsible for finding out the virus that caused cervical cancer and two French scientists who were responsible for the discovery of Aids virus won the 2008 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine.

Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for Aids Research and Prevention as well as Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institute Pasteur received half of the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) for discovering the deadly virus which caused the death of 25 million people since it was first identified during 1980s.

Harold zur Hausen, University of Duesseldorf, who happened to be a former director of the German Cancer Research Center won the other half of the prize for his work that challenged the conventional wisdom of the causes of cervical cancer.

The award happens to be a decisive vote in favor of Montagnier who was in a long standing dispute as to the discovery and identification of the virus. The dispute involved Montagnier and Dr. Robert Gallo of the US Cancer Institute.