NIH grant recipient earns 2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry | Courtesy of Shutterstock
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Amanda Rupp | Oct 14, 2016

NIH grant recipient earns 2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry

J. Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, recipient of a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently earned the 2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

In 2010, the NIH offered support to Stoddart through its National Cancer Institute, providing over $2 million in financing. The central office of the NIH, the Office of the Director, sets the policies for the organization and its 27 centers and institutes.

Stoddart jointly received the Nobel Prize with Dr. Jean-Pierre Sauvage from the University of Strasbourg, France, and Dr. Bernard Feringa from the University of Groningen, Netherlands.

The prize was given to honor the design and manufacturing of their molecular machines. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has reported that the scientists’ work will take chemistry and machinery to a new level.

Molecular machines, or tiny molecules, include controllable movements. In turn, these allow the machines to complete a task when the scientists need energy. Moreover, the machines are a thousand times thinner than a single strand of hair. Too small for the naked eye to see, molecular machines are essential for creating new sensors, materials and energy-storage mechanisms.

“Another application of these molecular machines could be delivering drugs within the body, for example, by applying them directly to cancer cells,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said. “NIH is proud to have supported this work.”

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