Chemistry Prize for microscopy technique

After a short delay, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy. It was assumed that optical microscopy could never improve of obtaining a better resolution than half the wavelength of light – 0.2 micrometers – but this year’s laureates circumvented this limitation with the help of fluorescent molecules. Their technique allows scientists to study living cells – red blood cells, bacteria and yeast – and processes in real time. The prize is awarded for two separate principles. The first enables the method stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, developed by Hell in 2000. The technique uses two laser beams – one stimulate fluorescent molecules to glow, the other cancels all fluorescence out, except that in the mamometre-sized volume. Scanning the sample, nanometre by nanometre, results in an incredibly high resolution image. Betzig and Moerner – working separately – laid the foundation for single molecule microscopy, which relies on the possibility to turn the fluorescence of individual molecules on and off. Scientists image the same area multiple times, letting just a few interspersed molecules glow each time. Superimposing these images gives a dense super-image resolved at the nanolevel. The 8 million SEK (£0.7 million) prize will be shared equally between the trio. Betzis is currently based at the Howard Hughed Medical Institute, while Moerner is based at Stanford University. Hell is based the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. The awards were established in the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, and first awarded in 1901. Over 100 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have been awarded to 166 Laureates, including with four women. Only one person, Frederick Sanger, has been awarded the Chemistry Prize twice, in 1958 and in 1980. Hear Professor Hell speak about his work: