Reflecting on the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is “a celebration of the coming together of three distinct pieces needed for success”, says president-elect of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Professor Dame Carol Robinson.

"The sample preparation, the algorithms for the interpretation of the data and the recording of the data via the direct electron detector. By combining these different strands into one platform scientists now have access to vital information to fight disease, make new materials and understand even more about how biology works."

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

Professor Robinson adds that "the approaches pioneered by this year’s laureates help us to understand the working of the microscopic machinery of life. Numerous examples have now been published of cryo-electron microscopy images including - the Zika virus and the very first structures of amyloid filaments from patient-derived material.

"I am delighted to see this research recognised in this way. It is truly transformative allowing us to see new images of biomolecules – I am personally very happy for Richard who predicted this would be possible many years previously.”

Read some of Joachim Frank's work

To commemorate the award we have made two pieces of Joachim Frank's research, from our Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics journal, available to freely access, here and here.

Find out more...

If you’d like to know more about the work that won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry World magazine has explainers, interviews and more, as well as a subscription offer to celebrate the award.