POS Assignment 2

Question: Name the scientists who won Nobel prize for medicine physiology, physics and chemistry
and describe briefly their contribution.
And give your opinion about why committee gave prizes to them. (10 marks).

Scientists who won the Nobel Prize for the year 2022
Medicine Physiology: Svante Pääbo

Contribution: Svante Pääbo discovered a previously unknown anthropoid called Denisovan. He has
conducted extensive work on Neanderthals DNA. He analysed DNA from Neanderthal Mitochondria
and showed that the most recent ancestor of both Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens lived around
approximately 800,00 years ago. He also found out that COVID -19 patients with a snippet of
Neanderthal DNA run a higher risk of serious complications from the disease.

I think the committee gave prize to him because: I think he was given the prize because through his
discoveries he provided basis for what makes humans, different and unique from other beings. His
discovery has importance today because it talks about how the immune systems of human beings
react to infections due to DNA material inherited by us from our ancestors. Also, because his research
gave rise to an entirely new scientific discipline called Paleo genomics. Thanks to his discoveries we
have now begun to understand how the influence of these genes on present day humans gives an
advantage to those who live at high altitude, for example Tibetans, and how it is very common among
them.

Physics: Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger

Contribution: Anton Zeilinger conducted an experiment on transferring an unknown quantum state

from one particle to another through a process called Quantum Teleportation. John F. Clauser
conducted an experiment in which a pair of entangled particles were sent in an opposite direction and
was able to show results that violated Bell’s inequality and were in accordance with the predictions of
Quantum Mechanics. There was however a loophole that what if the particles selected were had a
strong relation and hence, they were showing the desired results. But Alain Aspect built a new version
of the experiment in which he showed that there are no hidden variables at all.

I think the committee gave prize to them because: I think they won the prize for studying and
conducting experiments by controlling particles that are in entangled states. The development that
happened because of the experimental tools made by them had created a base for almost a new area
of Quantum Technology. This area of Quantum Technology deals with a certain kind of Computers
called Quantum Computers, which use the quantum state of subatomic particles to work better than
an ordinary computer. The development using the experimental tools made by these scientists is what
is leading these Quantum Computers to work more efficiently than a regular computer. All these have,
in many ways, laid a foundation for further research in Quantum Science. Because of their
experiments, quantum states between photons were revealed, which will also be helpful for working of
optical fibres and satellites, since they are concerned with the working of Photons.

Chemistry: Barry Sharpless, Morten Meldal and Carolyn Bertozzi

Contribution: Barry Sharpless coined the concept of Click Chemistry for a functional form of chemistry
where molecular building blocks snap quickly as well as effectively. Him and Morten Meldal, working
somewhere else, both discovered the element that is considered the most important for Click
Chemistry- Copper Catalysed Azide- Alkyne. Carolyn Bertozzi used a click reaction to track Glycans,
a form of carbohydrates that play an important role when the immune system is activated. Because of
her studies, it was found out that they could also be introduced in living creatures.

I think the committee gave prize to them because: I think they got the prize because they brought
Chemistry in the span of Functionalism and laid foundations for a branch of Chemistry called Click
Chemistry. They got the prize because the reaction produced by their experiment was special. Special
because Triazoles that were produced in the experiment are very useful. They are stable and are also
found in pharmaceuticals. Bertozzi’s studies have shown that some glycans can protect tumours from
the body’s immune system, because they make the immune cells shut down. All 3’s work has shown
the great amount of potential that Click Chemistry and Biorthogonal Chemistry have and how useful
they can get to protect human beings from diseases.

Links for the articles used as references:

1) https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022/press-release/

2) https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2022/press-release/

3) https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2022/press-release/