Tag Archives: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
“Oxford housewife” or the only british woman to have ever won the Nobel Prize in science? – Dorothy Hodgkin
V. M. Danilova*, S. G. Torkhova, S. V. Komisarenko
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
*e-mail: valdan@biochem.kiev.ua
Received: 05 November 2024; Revised: 18 November 2024;
Accepted: 21 November 2024; Available on-line: 15 January 2025
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, a British chemist and Nobel Prize winner, who extended the method of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules that furthered the development of structural biology. In 1964, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances”, particularly vitamin B12 and antibiotic penicillin. Five years after winning the Nobel Prize, Dorothy Hodgkin also established the structure of insulin. Although The Daily Mail headlined her as an “Oxford housewife”, Dorothy Hodgkin overcame gender inequality to become the third woman in history to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and remains the only British woman researcher to be awarded the most prestigious prize in the sciences.
A legend in his own lifetime: double Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling
T. V. Danylova1*, S. V. Komisarenko2
1National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
*e-mail: danilova_tv@ukr.net;
2Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail:svk@biochem.kiev.ua
Received: 19 April 2021; Accepted: 17 May 2021
Linus Pauling – a prominent American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator – was one of the scientists-humanists whose life echoed the key milestones of the 20th century and who could be compared with Leonardo da Vinci in terms of the breadth of interests and creative achievements. He is one of the four scientists to have won two Nobel Prizes (the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1954; the Nobel Peace Prize 1962) and the only one to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes. As a result of his long-lasting research, Pauling formulated a theory of structure and function of proteins; studied the effect of oxygen saturation of hemoglobin on its magnetic properties, laid the foundations for structural analysis of protein molecules, made a contribution to the study of antibodies. Believing that people had to develop a new type of thinking for the sake of the survival of humanity, Linus Pauling spoke out strongly against nuclear testing, and the contemporary world is indebted to Pauling for his courage and moral leadership in reminding us about the dangers of nuclear war. The versatile innovative activities of the brilliant scientist and humanist Linus Pauling, his unconventional personality, and the huge scientific heritage have left a deep mark in the history of humankind.
Prospects of genome editing using CRISPR/CAS or how to master genetic scissors. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
S. V. Komisarenko, S. I. Romaniuk
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: svk@biochem.kiev.ua
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded to two researchers in the field of molecular biology – the French Emmanuelle Charpentier, who now heads the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin, and the American Jennifer Doudna from the University of California, Berkeley – for the ‘development of genome editing method’. A press release of the Nobel Committee states that the winners discovered one of the most powerful genetic technology tools – CRISPR/Cas9, or so-called ‘genetic scissors’. This method has contributed to many important results of basic research. In particular, plant researchers have managed to create crops resistant to mold, pests and drought. As for medicine, clinical trials of new cancer treatment techniques are underway, and a dream of curing hereditary diseases is about to become a reality. Genetic scissors have brought the life sciences to a new stage of development and greatly contributed to the benefit of mankind.