3 share chemistry Nobel for work with evolution, proteins
STOCKHOLM — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for using a sped-up version of evolution to create new proteins that have led to a bestselling drug and other products.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Science said their work has led to the development of medications, biofuels and a reduced environmental impact from some industrial processes.
Frances Arnold of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena was awarded half of the $1 million prize, while the other half was shared by George Smith of the University of Missouri and Gregory Winter of the MRC molecular biology lab in Cambridge, England.
Arnold, 62, is only the fifth woman to win a chemistry Nobel since the prizes began in 1901.
The winners “have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind,” the Nobel committee said.
Smith, 77, and Winter, 67, worked with viruses that infect bacteria. Smith showed in 1985 that inserting DNA into these viruses would make them display proteins linked to that DNA on their surfaces. It was a way to find an unknown gene for a known protein.
Winter adapted the approach to create useful antibodies, proteins that target and grab onto diseaserelated targets. In 1994, for example, he developed antibodies that grab onto cancer cells.
The first pharmaceutical based on Winter’s work, AbbVie’s adalimumab, was approved for sale in 2002. It’s used to treat immune- George Smith, left, of the University of Missouri, and Gregory Winter, of the MRC molecular biology lab in Cambridge, England, worked with viruses that infect bacteria. Frances Arnold is the fifth woman to win a chemistry Nobel since 1901. system disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases, the academy said.
Sold as Humira in the U.S. and under other brand names elsewhere, it brought AbbVie $18.4 billion in revenue last year, in part because of its price: about $5,000 a month without insurance coverage in the U.S.
Other antibodies produced by this approach fight cancer, neutralize the anthrax toxin and slow down lupus, the Swedish academy said.
Dr. Wayne Marasco of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston said the lab technique developed by Smith and Winter was “revolutionary and it’s used today, every day.”
Arnold was seeking ways to make improved enzymes, which are proteins that encourage chemical reactions to occur. In 1993, she showed the power of “directed evolution” for doing that.
First she created random mutations in DNA that lets cells produce an enzyme. Then she slipped these mutated genes into bacteria, which pumped out thousands of different variants of the enzyme.
Arnold has been at the leading edge of directed evolution techniques, the academy said. Her tailored enzymes have become important for making medications and other valuable substances like renewable fuels.
Arnold told the AP, “I predict that we will see many more Nobel chemistry prizes for women.”
Smith credited others for the work that led to his breakthrough.
“Very few research breakthroughs are novel. Virtually all of them build on what went on before,” he told the AP.
Winter said an encounter with a cancer patient early in his career made him realize the importance of his work.
Winter said he realized afterward there was a “moral imperative” to ensure “what was produced could be used for public benefit.”