Two scientists won Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on building molecules that are mirror images of one another.
The announcement came at an event in Stockholm on Wednesday.
The German-born Benjamin List and Scotland-born David MacMillan’s work has paved way for new classes of small molecule drugs.
The two scientists’ work had advanced pharmaceutical research and “made chemistry greener”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
“This concept for catalysis is as simple as it is ingenious. The fact is that many people have wondered why we didn’t think of it earlier,” said Johan Aqvist, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
“Then it becomes important to be able to make only the mirror image of a drug that has the desired physiological effect,” said Nobel Committee member Peter Somfai.
Yesterday, three scientists have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for work that helps understand complex physical systems.
The trio are Japanese-born American Syukuro Manabe, German Klaus Hasselmann and Italian Giorgio Parisi .
The winners will share the prize money of 10 million krona (£842,611).
The deadly floods that hit the world earlier this summer has shed light on climate change and its impact.
Last month, more than 180 people died in Western Europe due to the floods.
