For creating a method of “snapping molecules together” that can be used to create medicines, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless each received a portion of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Their work, often referred to as click chemistry and bioorthogonal processes are utilized to generate cancer medications, map DNA, and develop materials with specialized uses.
The winners were revealed on Wednesday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, by Hans Ellegren, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Sharpless is connected to Scripps Research in California, Bertozzi is headquartered at Stanford University in California, and Meldal is at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
The Nobel committee gave the award to scientists Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan last year for discovering a clever and environmentally friendly method to create molecules that is “already tremendously benefiting humankind.”
Monday marked the beginning of Nobel Prize announcement week, with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo receiving the prize in medicine for revealing Neanderthal DNA’s hidden information that was crucial to understanding our immune system.
The physics award was shared by three experts on Tuesday. A phenomenon known as quantum entanglement, which may be utilized for specialized computing and to encrypt information, was demonstrated by the Frenchman Alain Aspect, the American John F. Clauser, and the Austrian Anton Zeilinger.
On Thursday, they will discuss literature, and on Friday, they will announce the winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. On October 10, they will discuss economics.
