The trio was recognized for “the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry”, announced the jury. Sharpless, 81, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the second time. Only four other people have received the award twice, including Frenchwoman of Polish origin Marie Curie.
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Sharpless, who lives and works in California, and Meldal, 58, from the University of Copenhagen, were recognized for their pioneering work on click chemistry, a new way of combining molecules. “Among many uses, it is used in the development of pharmaceutical products, DNA mapping and the creation of new materials.”
American Bertozzi, 55, was awarded for the development of bioorthogonal chemistry, a chemical reaction that is described as capable of starting in a living organism, but without disturbing or modifying its chemical nature.
The trio will share the sum of 10 million Swedish krona, around US$900, and will receive the prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the scientist's death in 1896. Alfred Nobel, who created the award in his will.
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The Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year to the German Benjamin List and the American David MacMillan for the development of “asymmetric organocatalysis”, a new tool for building molecules that made Chemistry “greener” and improved pharmaceutical research.
(With AFP)
