Carol Robinson, president of Britain’s Royal Society of Chemistry, says the prize shows how chemistry contributes “to many areas of our lives including pharmaceuticals, detergents, green catalysis and biofuels.”

Robinson said Wednesday that directed evolution of enzymes and antibody technology “are now transforming medicine.”

Douglas Kell, a professor of bioanalytical science at the University of Manchester, says the prize is “fantastic news. One chemical expert says the research of new Nobel laureate Frances Arnold “has really enabled lots of different chemists to think about how we can make proteins and design proteins to do some fascinating chemistry.”

Matt Hartings, an associate professor of chemistry at American University in Washington, D.C., says “her work is incredible.”

Arnold of the California Institute of Technology was awarded half of the 9-million-kronor ($1.01 million) prize Wednesday, while the other half will be shared by George Smith of the University of Missouri and Gregory Winter of the MRC molecular biology lab in Cambridge, England. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which chose the winners, said Arnold, 62, conducted the first directed evolution of enzymes, whose uses include “more environmentally friendly manufacturing of chemical substances such as pharmaceuticals and the production of renewable fuels.”

Smith, 77, developed a method to evolve new proteins and Winter used the method to evolve antibodies, which are disease-fighting proteins in the blood. The first pharmaceutical based on Winter’s work was approved for use in 2002 and is employed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases, the academy said. Last year’s prize went to researchers in the United States, Switzerland and Britain who developed a microscope technique that lets scientists see details of the molecules that drive life. She then selected the cases where a particular mutation proved useful – for example, allowing the enzyme to work in a solvent it would otherwise not work in. “Mine was an idea in a line of research that built very naturally on the lines of research that went before.”

Smith said he learned of the prize in a pre-dawn phone call from Stockholm. “It’s a standard joke that someone with a Swedish accent calls and says ‘You won!’ But there was so much static on the line, I knew it wasn’t any of my friends,” he said. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics went to laser physics inventors Arthur Ashkin, Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland on Tuesday, while the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo on Monday, for their breakthrough in cancer research. Last year’s prize went to researchers in the United States, Switzerland and Britain who developed a microscope technique that lets scientists see details of the molecules that drive life. But since I’m an engineer and not a gentleman, I had no problem with that.”

Prof Carol Robinson, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said the award highlighted “the tremendous role of chemistry in contributing to many areas of our lives including pharmaceuticals, detergents, green catalysis and biofuels” and that the research was “transforming medicine”.”

On Monday, James Allison and Tasuku Honjo won the 2018 medicine Nobel for their work on harnessing the immune system to combat cancer, and on Tuesday the physics prize was shared between Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for their work on laser physics. There have been several female winners in the areas of medicine, literature and peace, but only one woman –the American Elinor Ostrom in 2009– has been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, honouring Alfred Nobel, the man who endowed the five Nobel Prizes, will be revealed on Monday. No Nobel literature prize will be awarded this year due to a sex abuse scandal at the Swedish Academy, which choses the winner.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to George P. Smith, Frances Arnold, and Greg Winter for the design of molecules with a range of uses by means that mimic natural selection.