Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to 3 scientists for work on building molecules


The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for their work developing click chemistry and bio-orthogonal chemistry. Click chemistry creates fast and straightforward reactions where molecules snap together quickly, CNN reports. This method of building molecules can have a number of real-world applications, especially in the development of pharmaceuticals.
Sharpless, a chemistry professor at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, originally coined the concept of click chemistry. Shortly after, both he and Meldal, based at the University of Copenhagen, discovered the key reaction of click chemistry independently, The New York Times reports. Bertozzi, a professor at Stanford University, was then able to apply the concept to biomolecules on cells' surfaces without disrupting their chemistry. Her work later allowed for click reactions to take place within cells, leading to the creation of bio-orthogonal reactions.
The three winners' work is being studied further for its potential to treat cancer. Bertozzi remarked that bio-orthogonal reactions allow scientists to "[do] chemistry inside human patients to make the drugs go to the right place." This system could be used to send toxic compounds to cancer cells, an area of research that is currently in development.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sharpless became the fifth person ever to win two Nobels, the first of which he won in 2001, CNN continues. Bertozzi also became the eighth woman to win the award.
"[C]lick chemistry and bio-orthogonal reactions have taken chemistry into the era of functionalism," the Nobel Committee said, "this is bringing the greatest benefit to humankind."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advice
the explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'
Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious characters
Feature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Colorado
speed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's study
Speed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-off
Speed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
Bacteria can turn plastic waste into a painkiller
Under the radar The process could be a solution to plastic pollution
-
Scientists want to regrow human limbs. Salamanders could lead the way.
Under the radar Humans may already have the genetic mechanism necessary
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses