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| Nobel prize awarded for imaging molecules | Nobel prize awarded for imaging molecules |
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| The 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for improving images made of biological molecules. | The 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for improving images made of biological molecules. |
| Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson will share the nine million kronor (£831,000) prize. | Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson will share the nine million kronor (£831,000) prize. |
| They were named at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden. | They were named at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden. |
| They developed a technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which simplifies the process for looking at the machinery of life. | They developed a technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which simplifies the process for looking at the machinery of life. |
| The process makes it possible for life's molecular building blocks to be captured mid-movement and allowed scientists to visualise processes that had never before been seen. | The process makes it possible for life's molecular building blocks to be captured mid-movement and allowed scientists to visualise processes that had never before been seen. |
| Prof Dubochet was born in Switzerland, Joachim Frank is German and Richard Henderson is from Edinburgh, UK. | |
| Speaking to journalists over a telephone line, Prof Frank said the practical uses for the technique were "immense". | Speaking to journalists over a telephone line, Prof Frank said the practical uses for the technique were "immense". |
| And the Nobel committee said the work had "moved biochemistry into a new era". | And the Nobel committee said the work had "moved biochemistry into a new era". |
| Committee chair Sara Snogerup Linse explained: "Soon, there are no more secrets, now, we can see the intricate details of the biomolecules in every corner of our cells and every drop of our body fluids. | Committee chair Sara Snogerup Linse explained: "Soon, there are no more secrets, now, we can see the intricate details of the biomolecules in every corner of our cells and every drop of our body fluids. |
| "We can understand how they are built and how they act and how they work together in large communities. We are facing a revolution in biochemistry." | "We can understand how they are built and how they act and how they work together in large communities. We are facing a revolution in biochemistry." |
| Cryo-electron microscopy has been used to capture images of Salmonella's "injection needle" for attacking cells, proteins involved in antibiotic resistance and the molecular structures governing circadian rhythm - the subject of this year's medicine and physiology Nobel. | Cryo-electron microscopy has been used to capture images of Salmonella's "injection needle" for attacking cells, proteins involved in antibiotic resistance and the molecular structures governing circadian rhythm - the subject of this year's medicine and physiology Nobel. |
| When researchers began to suspect that the Zika virus was behind the microcephaly seen in newborns in Brazil, they turned to cry-EM to visualise the virus. Over a few months, 3-D images of the virus at atomic resolution were generated and researchers could start searching for potential targets for drugs. | When researchers began to suspect that the Zika virus was behind the microcephaly seen in newborns in Brazil, they turned to cry-EM to visualise the virus. Over a few months, 3-D images of the virus at atomic resolution were generated and researchers could start searching for potential targets for drugs. |
| Joachim Frank made the microscope technology more easy to apply in a general setting by processing images of the molecules in such a way that fuzzy two-dimensional images were turned into sharp, 3-D structures. | |
| Jacques Dubochet managed to cool water so rapidly that it solidified around a biological sample, allowing its natural shape to be preserved. | |
| Later, Richard Henderson succeeded in presenting the structure of a bacterial molecule at atomic resolution - moving the technique on still further. | |
| Richard Anderson said: "I am delighted for everybody in the field that the Nobel Prize for chemistry has been awarded to acknowledge the success of cryo-EM. I am particularly pleased that Jacques Dubochet has been recognised as the key person who kick-started the field with his method of rapid-freezing in the early 1980s, a crucial advance." | |
| The president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Allison A Campbell, commented: "This discovery is like the Google Earth for molecules in that it takes us down to the fine detail of atoms within proteins. | The president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Allison A Campbell, commented: "This discovery is like the Google Earth for molecules in that it takes us down to the fine detail of atoms within proteins. |
| "Understanding proteins in their native state is important to every field of science as they are in every living thing. A picture truly is worth a thousand words, and the laureates' discoveries are invaluable to our understanding of life and the development of new therapeutics." | "Understanding proteins in their native state is important to every field of science as they are in every living thing. A picture truly is worth a thousand words, and the laureates' discoveries are invaluable to our understanding of life and the development of new therapeutics." |
| Richard Henderson is the 15th Nobel laureate to work at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. | Richard Henderson is the 15th Nobel laureate to work at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. |
| Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 2016 - Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa shared the prize for the making machines on a molecular scale. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 2012 - Work that revealed how protein receptors pass signals between living cells and the environment won the prize for Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka. |
| 2011 - Dan Schechtman received the prize for discovering the "impossible" structure of quasicrystals. | 2011 - Dan Schechtman received the prize for discovering the "impossible" structure of quasicrystals. |
| 2010 - Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki were recognised for developing new ways of linking carbon atoms together. | 2010 - Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki were recognised for developing new ways of linking carbon atoms together. |