In 1994, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded jointly to Rodbell and Alfred G. Gilman of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for the discovery of G-proteins and their role in signal transduction in cells. Gilman provided a critical piece of the puzzle. He isolated the transducer molecules and defined their structure. Because they were proteins that bind GTP, Gilman called them G-proteins.

"Humans must understand how important it is to think, to seek out [knowledge] and understand what nature is doing"

• –Martin Rodbell

Rodbell receiving his prize from His Majesty, King of Sweden