Two Americans and a Danish scientist have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a new way of putting molecules together called “click chemistry” which is transforming pharmaceutical and medical research, development and manufacturing. Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University and Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research, both in California, share the SKr10m ($914,000) prize with Morten Meldal of the University of Copenhagen. Sharpless, 81, had already received a Nobel in 2001 for a discovery in organic chemistry.
The three laureates’ work “laid the foundation for a functional form of chemistry in which molecular building blocks snap together quickly and efficiently”, said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Click chemistry is a way of combining two molecules — the chemical equivalent of connecting Lego pieces — that is being increasingly used in lab experiments for drug development and for mapping DNA.