Protein research takes Chemistry Nobel

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for their discoveries in enzyme research.

Americans Frances Arnold and George P Smith will share the prize with Briton Gregory Winter, who is based at Cambridge University.

This year’s winners used a technique called directed evolution to create new enzymes – which accelerate chemical reactions in biology.

The award is worth nine million Swedish kronor (£770,686; $998,618).

Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

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GAVIN MURPHY/NATURE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

2017 – Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson were awarded the prize for improving images of biological molecules

2016 – Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa shared the prize for the making machines on a molecular scale.

2015 – Discoveries in DNA repair earned Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar the award.

2014 – Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner were awarded the prize for improving the resolution of optical microscopes.

2013 – Michael Levitt, Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel shared the prize, for devising computer simulations of chemical processes.

2012 – Work that revealed how protein receptors pass signals between living cells and the environment won the prize for Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka.