Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to three scientists for microscopy of living molecules

(Image credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

published 4 October 2017

On Wednesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry to three men, Jacques Dubochet, 75, Joachim Frank, 77, and Richard Henderson, 72, "for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution" — or as the Nobel committee said, creating a "cool microscope technology" that will revolutionize biochemistry by allowing people to see the inner workings of biomolecules at the atomic level.

Thanks to their work, "we may soon have detailed images of life's complex machineries in atomic resolution," the Nobel committee said. Their cryo-electron microscopy technique "has moved biochemistry into a new era," giving scientists a new method that should prove "decisive for both the basic understanding of life's chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals," like a vaccine against the Zika virus.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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