National Chemistry Week is an annual, worldwide celebration of the chemical sciences and scientists.
And while at Microscope.com we believe in celebrating the individuals advancing science every day, we thought we’d give these five chemists a special shout-out this week:
Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier & Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna
“A tool for rewriting the code of life”
Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier & Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for their development of the Crispr-Cas9 tool, a method for genome editing.
These genetic scissors have been described as ‘a tool for rewriting the code of life,’ and can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.
The discovery has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences and is contributing to new cancer therapies, with the potential of curing inherited diseases.
2020 marked the first time the prestigious award was given to two women, and they are only the sixth and seventh women in history to be awarded the chemistry prize.
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Dr. Allen J. Bard
The “father of modern electrochemistry”
Considered by many to be the ‘father of modern electrochemistry,’ Dr. Allen J. Bard may not cure diseases. But the scanning electrochemical microscopy imaging technique he developed has enabled scientists to better identify potentially deadly diseases, and find new paths for trans-dermal drugs to combat them.
His scanning electrochemical microscope has been groundbreaking in enabling high-resolution chemical imaging, as well as the observance of chemical reactions.
Among his many distinctions, he has been awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions in electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photo-electrochemistry, electro-analytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning electrochemical microscope.
Bard's current research focuses on harnessing the power of natural sunlight to produce sustainable energy.
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Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz & Prof. Meir Lahav
Solving a 140-year-old riddle
This year’s Wolf Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Leslie Leiserowitz and Meir Lahav of the Weizmann Institute of Science Researchers for the work in the establishment of “fundamental reciprocal influences of three-dimensional molecular structure upon organic crystals.”
Their series of experiential findings proved for the first time ever that the spatial symmetry of a molecule (in particular, the molecules of life) can be determined by understanding the morphology of the crystal in which the molecules are assembled.
This led to answering a 140-year-old question, first asked by Louis Pasteur, whose work showed how crystals of the same material can mirror one another, but not understanding how this ultimately related to the crystal’s structure.
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