Microscope Trailblazers Win Chemistry Nobel for ‘Freeze Framing’ Life

Molecular biologist and biophysicist Richard Henderson poses as he looks through a bacteriorhodopsin protein model, following the announcement that he is a joint winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

STOCKHOLM/LONDON—A trio of Swiss, American and British scientists won the 2017 Nobel chemistry prize on Wednesday for developing cryo-electron microscopy, allowing researchers to see biological molecules frozen in action.

The work by Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson makes it possible to image proteins and other molecules after freezing them rapidly to preserve their shape, providing a powerful new tool for medical research.