Photos: Life-Changing Nobel Chemistry Breakthroughs

Radioactivity: A Boon to Medicine

Photograph from Mary Evans Picture Library, Alamy

Photographed in 1867, Marie Curie, a Polish-French physical chemist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for her discoveries of the radioactive elements radium and polonium and their properties.

Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and is so far the only woman to win two Nobels—she was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her radioactivity research. She was also among the first to experimentally use radioactive atoms for medical purposes, the Chemical Heritage Foundation's Tritton noted.

During World War I, for example, Curie helped invent mobile x-ray stations powered by radioactive elements—nicknamed petites Curies ("little Curies")—for use in the battlefield.

(Related: "Radiation in Teeth Can Help Date, ID Bodies, Experts Say.")

Published October 5, 2011

Nobel Gases: Lighting Up Lives

Photograph by Justin Guariglia, National Geographic

Lighted by electrified gases such as neon, many of the brilliant extravagances of Shanghai (pictured) wouldn't be possible without Sir William Ramsay. The Scotsman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for identifying four previously unknown elements in air, later dubbed the noble gases: argon, neon, krypton, and xenon.

Scientists had suspected these elements existed because of gaps in the periodic table, but proving the gases were real was difficult, because the gases are remarkably inert—that is, they don't chemically interact with other elements. (Related: "Element 118 Created, This Time for Real, Scientists Say.")

In addition to lighting up our lives, Ramsay's discovery of an entirely new group of elements "confirmed the structure of the periodic table," the Chemical Heritage Foundation's Tritton said, "which is foundational to all of modern chemistry."

Published October 5, 2011

DNA Sequencing: Genomics Revolution

Photograph by Wong Maye-e, AP

A technician cuts a DNA fragment from agarose gel for DNA sequencing as part of research to determine the genetic mutations in a blood-cancer patient in 2007.

This kind of potentially life-saving research wouldn't be possible today if not for science conducted by Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger. The pair was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on sequencing the base pairs, or chemical letters, that make up DNA and RNA. The work has since allowed scientists to sequence the unique genomes of numerous animals—including humans.

"Without their discovery, the entire genomics revolution would be impossible," Tritton said. "The dream of personalized genomic medicine traces back to this discovery."

(Related: "Personalized Medicine Promises Tailor-Made Diagnoses, Treatments.")

Published October 5, 2011

Ozone Hole: Damage Control

Image courtesy NASA

A large thin spot in the ozone layer above Antarctica is highlighted in blue in this 2010 picture created from measurements by NASA's orbiting Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument.

For revealing the chemical reactions behind ozone-layer damage, researchers Paul Crutzen, Mario Molina, and Sherwood Rowland were awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The trio's work showed, among other things, how sensitive the ozone layer is to man-made aerosols.

"Their work established the chemistry of the atmosphere that ... led to sensible policies to control ozone-layer damage," such as bans on certain aerosol products, Tritton said. (Related: "First North Pole Ozone Hole Forming?")

Published October 5, 2011

Buckyballs: A Nanotech First

Illustration courtesy T. Pyle, SSC/Caltech/NASA

Buckyballs bond in an artist's conception of the spherical molecules, made entirely of carbon atoms and named for their resemblance to the geodesic domes of engineer Buckminister Fuller.

Chemists Robert Curl, Harold Kroto, and Richard Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of fullerenes—a group of carbon molecules that includes the buckyball-in 1985. (Also see "Largest Space Molecules Found; Buckyball Mystery Solved.")

Buckyballs "were the first recognized nanostructures and led to the field of nanotechnology," Tritton said.

Scientists are still working out how to use the tiny structures to create new materials with properties not seen in nature. But another fullerene, the carbon nanotube, is already being used to enhance sporting gear, microscopes, and medical scaffolding.

Published October 5, 2011