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CRI听力:Three Scientists Share 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

2014-10-09来源:CRI

Two U.S. and one German scientist are sharing this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry for smashing the size barrier in optical microscopes, allowing researchers to see individual molecules inside living cells.

CRI's Chen Xuefei reports from Stockholm.

The scientists, American's Eric Betzig and William Moerner, along with German Stefan Hell, have won the award for their discovery of the principles of how to work around the diffraction limits for light microscopy.

Their discovery has already led to a number of commercial applications.

Sven Lidin is the chair of the Nobel Committee in Chemistry.

"What these three laureates have achieved is to push the limit of microscopy way beyond what was possible before, these are not the methods which are highly specialized any more, these are methods that have been used by commercial instrument makers, that you can buy in open market today."

In what has become known as nanoscopy, scientists can visualize the paths of individual molecules inside a living cell.

This allows them to visualize how molecules create synapses between nerve cells in the brain.

This can allow scientists to track the proteins involved in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases, which may eventually lead to a cure for these hereditary diseases.

Professor Lidin notes the three scientists actually did their research separately.

"They haven't been working together, but they have been working towards the same goal, I think it emphasizes the importance of scientific communication, it is not the collaboration in this case, but communication."

The 54-year old Eric Betzig works at a Medical Institute in the US state of Virginia.

61-year old William Moerner is professor at Stanford University in California.

And 52-year old Stefan Hell is a division head at a Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany.

Hell, speaking to reporters on a conference call following his victory, admits it wasn't easy to secure funding for their research, as the scientific community was quite skeptical of their work for a long time.

"I was totally surprised, I couldn't believe it."

The three scientists will equally share their 1.1 million US dollar prize and take part in the award ceremony on December 10th.

The Nobel Prize for Literature is to be announced later on this Thursday in Stockholm.

For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.