Three scientists share 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry

STOCKHOLM - Three scientists have shared 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Wednesday.

The names of Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson are displayed on the screen during the announcement of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017, in Stockholm, Sweden, October 4, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson "for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution".

Explaining the scientific achievement, Peter Brzezinski, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said that this year's scientific invention "enables us to see the molecules inside the cells and how they interact", and "in future, we are able to see the processes of how the molecules structures move."

Answering the question by Xinhua at the press conference on the inter-disciplinary researches in physics and chemistry for this year's invention, Brzezinski said this year's achievement is a "good example" of inter-disciplinary researches, in which, technologies play crucial roles to scientific discoveries.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement that "the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which both simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules, has moved biochemistry into a new era."

Speaking through a telephone interview at the press conference, Joachim Frank said he was "never mind being woken up early" for the news of the Prize. "I was pretty overwhelmed. it's wonderful news."

This year's prize is 9 million SEK (1.1 million US dollars), and will be shared by the three laureates.