Creators of Molecule Building Tool Win Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2021-10-07
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a molecule-building tool that can produce many important compounds in a "greener" way.
2The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the awards Wednesday for Germany's Benjamin List and Scotland-born David MacMillan.
3List is with Germany's Max Planck Institute, while MacMillan is a professor at America's Princeton University.
4Work by the two scientists has permitted researchers to more effectively produce molecules for things like medicines and pesticides and with less environmental harm.
5The academy called the winners' development method "an ingenious tool for building molecules."
6The process of making molecules requires the linking of individual atoms together in specific positions.
7This can be very slow and difficult.
8For many years, chemists had only two methods -- or catalysts -- to speed up the process.
9These used either complex enzymes or metal catalysts.
10That all changed in 2000, when List and MacMillan independently reported that small organic molecules can be used to do the same job.
11The process has made the production of some drugs easier, including an antiviral and an anti-anxiety medication, the academy said.
12It noted that an estimated 35 percent of the world's total Gross Domestic Product, GDP, "in some way involves chemical catalysis."
13John Lorsch is director of the United States National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
14He likened the scientists' work to "molecular carpentry."
15"They've found ways to not only speed up the chemical joining," he said, "but to make sure it only goes in either the right-handed or left-handed direction."
16Johan Åqvist, chair of the Nobel panel, called the new method as "simple as it is ingenious."
17"The fact is that many people have wondered why we didn't think of it earlier," he added.
18H.N. Cheng is president of the American Chemical Society.
19He said the two winners had developed "new magic wands."
20He added that before their work, the usual molecule building methods often resulted in environmental damage or harm.
21Speaking after the announcement, List said the award came as a "huge surprise."
22He said at the beginning he did not know that MacMillan was working on the same subject, and he thought his effort might turn out to be, what he called, a "stupid idea."
23But he added: "When I saw it worked, I did feel that this could be something big."
24MacMillan said the start of his catalysis work was "a pretty simple idea that really sparked a lot of different research."
25He added: "The part we're just so proud of is that you don't have to have huge amounts of equipment and huge amounts of money to do fine things in chemistry."
26I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a molecule-building tool that can produce many important compounds in a "greener" way. 2The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the awards Wednesday for Germany's Benjamin List and Scotland-born David MacMillan. List is with Germany's Max Planck Institute, while MacMillan is a professor at America's Princeton University. 3Work by the two scientists has permitted researchers to more effectively produce molecules for things like medicines and pesticides and with less environmental harm. The academy called the winners' development method "an ingenious tool for building molecules." 4The process of making molecules requires the linking of individual atoms together in specific positions. This can be very slow and difficult. For many years, chemists had only two methods -- or catalysts -- to speed up the process. These used either complex enzymes or metal catalysts. 5That all changed in 2000, when List and MacMillan independently reported that small organic molecules can be used to do the same job. 6The process has made the production of some drugs easier, including an antiviral and an anti-anxiety medication, the academy said. It noted that an estimated 35 percent of the world's total Gross Domestic Product, GDP, "in some way involves chemical catalysis." 7John Lorsch is director of the United States National Institute of General Medical Sciences. He likened the scientists' work to "molecular carpentry." 8"They've found ways to not only speed up the chemical joining," he said, "but to make sure it only goes in either the right-handed or left-handed direction." 9Johan Åqvist, chair of the Nobel panel, called the new method as "simple as it is ingenious." "The fact is that many people have wondered why we didn't think of it earlier," he added. 10H.N. Cheng is president of the American Chemical Society. He said the two winners had developed "new magic wands." He added that before their work, the usual molecule building methods often resulted in environmental damage or harm. 11Speaking after the announcement, List said the award came as a "huge surprise." He said at the beginning he did not know that MacMillan was working on the same subject, and he thought his effort might turn out to be, what he called, a "stupid idea." But he added: "When I saw it worked, I did feel that this could be something big." 12MacMillan said the start of his catalysis work was "a pretty simple idea that really sparked a lot of different research." 13He added: "The part we're just so proud of is that you don't have to have huge amounts of equipment and huge amounts of money to do fine things in chemistry." 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. 16We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 17_____________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19pesticide - n. a chemical used to kill insects 20ingenious - adj. very smart and involving new ideas, equipment or methods 21catalyst - n. a substance that makes a chemical reaction happen more quickly 22organic - adj. used in chemistry to describe chemicals that contain carbon 23anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen 24carpentry - n. the activity of making and repairing wooden objects 25magic wand - n. a small stick used by people who perform tricks for entertainment 26spark - v. to cause the start of something 27proud - adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done