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STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for finding an “ingenious” and environmentally cleaner way to create molecules that can be used to make everything from drugs to food sweeteners.
The work of Benjamin List of Germany and Scottish-born David WC MacMillan has allowed scientists to manufacture these molecules more cheaply, efficiently, safely and with significantly less environmental impact.
“It is already of great benefit to humanity,” said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel.
Making molecules that require linking individual atoms together in a specific order is a difficult and slow task. Until the turn of the millennium, chemists had only two methods—or catalysts—to speed up the process.
Everything changed in 2000 when List of the Max Planck Institute and MacMillan of Princeton University independently reported that small organic molecules could be used to do the same job as large enzymes and metal catalysts.
Wittung-Stafshede said the new method, known as asymmetric organocatalysis, is “widely used today, for example, in drug discovery and fine chemical production.”
Johan Åqvist, chair of the Nobel panel, described the new method as “as simple as it is ingenious.”
“The truth is, a lot of people wondered why we didn’t think about it sooner,” he added.
HN Cheng, president of the American Chemical Society, said the laureates were developing “new magic wands.”
Prior to the laureates’ work, “the standard catalysts often used were metals, often with environmental implications,” Cheng said. “They accumulate, they leak, they can be dangerous.”
The catalysts pioneered by MacMillan and List are “organic, so they degrade faster and are also cheaper,” he said.
Another member of the committee, Peter Somfai, emphasized the importance of the discovery for the world economy.
“Catalysis is estimated to be responsible for about 35% of world GDP, which is a pretty impressive number,” he said. “If we have a more environmentally friendly alternative, that is expected to make a difference.”
Speaking after the announcement, List said the award was a “big surprise”.
“You really made my day today,” the 53-year-old told reporters, who had gathered for the announcement of his holiday in Amsterdam, by phone.
List said he initially didn’t know MacMillan was working on the same issue and thought his hunch might have been “a silly idea” until it worked.
“When I saw it working, I felt it could be something big,” said the eureka moment.
List added that since their discovery, the tool has been further refined, making it many times more efficient, adding that the “true revolution” has only just begun.
List said the award would give him more freedom in his future work.
“I hope I live up to this, this recognition, and continue to discover great things,” he said.
Goran Hansson, general secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said MacMillan had not yet been reached at the time of the announcement.
It is common for several scientists working in related fields to share the award. Last year the chemistry prize went to Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer A. Doudna of the USA for developing a gene editing tool that revolutionized science by providing a way to modify DNA.
The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish crowns (over $1.14 million). The prize money comes from a will left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.
On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the physiology or medicine prize to Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries about how the human body senses temperature and touch.
The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded Tuesday to three scientists whose work has found a seemingly irregular pattern that helps explain and predict the complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change.
In the coming days, awards will be given to outstanding works in the fields of literature, peace and economy.
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Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Christina Larson contributed from Washington.
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