Three scientists, who developed a “cool microscopy” that revolutionises Biochemistry, have won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The scientists are Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson- the trio invented a cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.
This year’s prize is 9 million SEK (1.1 million dollars) and would be shared by the three laureates.
Announcing this Wednesday at the Royal Swedish Academy, Peter Brzezinski, a member of the Nobel committee for Chemistry said, “This year’s scientific invention enables us to see the molecules inside the cells and how they interact… In future, we are able to see the processes of how the molecules structures move.”
Brzezinski said this year’s achievement is a “good example” of inter-disciplinary researches in which technologies play crucial roles to scientific discoveries.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement that: “The development of cryo-electron microscopy, which both simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules, has moved biochemistry into a new era.”
In a phone interview at the press conference, Joachim Frank said “I never mind being woken up early” for the news of the Prize.
“I was pretty overwhelmed, it’s wonderful news,’’ Frank said.
