US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith
and British researcher Gregory Winter won the
Nobel Chemistry Prize on Wednesday for applying
the principles of evolution to develop proteins
used in everything from new biofuels to the
world’s best-selling drug.
Arnold, just the fifth woman to clinch chemistry’s
most prestigious honour since Marie Curie was
honoured in 1911, won one half of the nine million
Swedish kronor (about $1.01 million or 870,000
euros) award, while Smith and Winter shared the
other half.
“The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have
taken control of evolution and used it for
purposes that bring the greatest benefit to
humankind,” the Swedish Royal Academy of
Sciences said.
Life on Earth exists because over the past 3.7
billion years organisms have adapted to their
environment, with evolution solving complex
chemical problems: fish can for example swim in
polar oceans because they have antifreeze
proteins in their blood.
The trio used the principles of evolution — genetic
change and selection — to develop proteins now
used in a range of fields, in what is known as
directed evolution.
“They have applied the principles of Darwin in test
tubes. They have used the molecular
understanding we have of the evolutionary
process and recreated the process in their labs,”
the head of the Academy’s Nobel Chemistry
committee, Claes Gustafsson, told reporters.
“They have been able to make evolution many
1000s of times faster and redirect it to create
new proteins.”
Arnold, 62, who has survived breast cancer and is
a single mother to three sons, is a professor of
chemical engineering at the California Institute of
Technology.
“I’m bouncing off the walls but I’m trying to
pretend to sound calm and collected,” she told
the Nobel Foundation in an interview, adding she
was “annoyed” she couldn’t reach her sons to
give them the news.
“They never answer the phone when Mom calls.”
Her method of rewriting DNA to mimic evolution
has helped solve problems such as replacing toxic
chemicals like fossil fuels.
As a result, renewable resources like sugar cane
are being converted into biofuels. More
environmentally friendly chemical substances are
being developed, improving everyday products
such as laundry and dish washing detergents to
enhance their performance in cold temperatures.

sourece: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/arnold-smith-winter-win-nobel-chemistry-prize/

oh how i hope to win this Nobel prize one day...