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PASADENA – Half of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded Wednesday to a Caltech scientist, who is now only the fifth woman to win the award.
She is Frances H. Arnold, a scientist and engineer at the California Institute of Technology.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, Sweden, the Royal Swedish Academy has declared that this year's award "rewards an evolution-based revolution" and goes to scientists who "applied Darwin's principles in test tubes." ".
Arnold was recognized for having achieved the very first "directed evolution" of enzymes, which are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. Directed evolution enzymes are used to make everything from sustainable biofuels to pharmaceuticals.
The other half of the award went to George P. Smith, professor at the University of Missouri, and Sir Gregory P. Winter from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
The methods developed by the laureates would have been put to work to create new enzymes and antibodies used to promote a greener chemical industry, mitigate disease and save lives.
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