 Current and previous physics faculty have won eight Nobel Prizes , four Dirac Medals , and three Wolf Prizes predominantly for their contributions to subatomic and quantum theory . Members of the chemistry department have been awarded three Nobel Prizes and one Wolf Prize for the discovery of novel syntheses and methods . MIT biologists have been awarded six Nobel Prizes for their contributions to genetics , immunology , oncology , and molecular biology . Professor Eric Lander was one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project . <unk> atoms , synthetic penicillin , synthetic self @-@ replicating molecules , and the genetic bases for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig 's disease ) and Huntington 's disease were first discovered at MIT . Jerome <unk> transformed the study of cognitive science with his paper " What the frog 's eye tells the frog 's brain " . 
