Nobel chemistry prize awarded to 3 for attaching molecules : NPR

A bust of Alfred Nobel on display at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.

Henrik Montgomery/AP

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Henrik Montgomery/AP

A bust of Alfred Nobel on display at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.

Henrik Montgomery/AP

STOCKHOLM — This year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded in equal parts to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless for developing way of “snapping molecules together.”

Hans Ellegren, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the winners Wednesday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Last year the prize was awarded to scientists Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan for finding an ingenious and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that the Nobel panel said is “already benefiting humankind greatly.”

A week of Nobel Prize announcements kicked off Monday with the award in medicine honoring a scientist who unlocked the secrets of Neanderthal DNA. Three scientists jointly won the prize in physics Tuesday for showing that tiny particles can retain a connection with each other even when separated.

They continue with chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on Oct. 10.