The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 goes to the biochemist Carolyn Bertozzi and the two chemists Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless. The Nobel Prize Committee's reasoning is that their inventions can be used to precisely assemble molecules. The decision was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on October 5, 2022.
The American Barry Sharpless and the Dane Morten Meldal receive the award because they have laid the foundations for the click chemistry. This means that molecular building blocks can be "clicked together" in the desired way. The American Carolyn Bertozzi is honored because she then brought the click chemistry to a new level and started using the technology for the mapping of cells. In addition to many other applications, their bio -orthogonal reactions contribute to more targeted cancer treatments.
Barry Sharpless, who has already received his second Nobel Prize, is considered one of the founders of the click chemistry. At the turn of the millennium, he shaped the term for the technology with which molecular building blocks can be linked quickly and efficiently, similar to how it happens in nature. He and Morten Meldal then discovered the copper-catalyzed azid-alkin cycloaddition, which is now considered the gold standard of the click chemistry. The combination of simple chemical building blocks can create an almost infinite variety of molecules. The technology is used, for example, in the development of drugs, the mapping of the DNA or in the manufacture of special materials.
Carolyn Bertozzi, in turn, developed so-called bioorthogonal click reactions that can be used in living organisms without disturbing the natural biological processes in them. Researchers worldwide are now working on using these reactions for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. For example, they are trying to develop clickable antibodies that are supposed to render tumor cells harmless. According to the Nobel Prize Committee, the techniques that the three molecular researchers have laid the foundation for are not only elegant, clever and novel, but also have a great benefit for humanity.
Between October 3rd and 10th, the Nobel Committee announces the Nobel Prize winners of 2022. On our topic page »Nobel Prices - The Highest Award« you will find out who has received one of the renowned prices. There you can also read the essentials about Laureate and your research.
Since October 4, Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger have also been honored. They were awarded for their pioneering work in the field of quantum research. One day earlier, the evolutionary researcher Svante Pääbo was honored for his achievement. The Nobel laureate in medicine is considered the founder of paleogenetics. His research helps to understand how modern man came into being.
Literature, peace and Nobel Prize
The committee will announce the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Finally, a jury will announce the winner of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics on Monday, October 10. The award, sponsored by the Swedish National Bank, is often referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics.
The Nobel Prize is considered one of the highest awards in science. Donated by the inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel, he has been awarded annually to outstanding researchers since 1901 "who have performed the greatest benefit in the past year". Nobel stated in his will. The award ceremony will always take place on December 10, on the day of Nobels.
