A Glimpse Into Genius
A Brief Summary of the Winners of the Nobel Prizes For 2023
A. J. Li
THE NOBEL PRIZES ARE AWARDED ANNUALLY TO “THOSE WHO, DURING THE PRECEDING YEAR, HAVE CONFERRED THE GREATEST BENEFIT TO HUMANKIND.” For scientists and researchers, they are perhaps the most prestigious prizes on offer and the holy grail of scientific inquiry. There are several prizes from different domains of human endeavour including science and society, but for the purposes of this summary, only the science prizes will be covered, that is: Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.” Their experiments have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. But what exactly is an attosecond and how does it help with studying the subatomic world? An attosecond is a unit of time equivalent to 1×10⁻¹⁸ of a second, or one quintillionth of a second. To put that into perspective, an attosecond is to a second what a second is to approximately 31.71 billion years. Anne L’Huillier discovered in 1987 that many different overtones of light arose when infrared laser light was transmitted through a noble gas. Pierre Agostini built on this discovery in 2001 by producing a series of consecutive light pulses, each lasting just 250 attoseconds. Similarly, Ferenc Krausz worked on other experiments which facilitated the isolation of a single light pulse lasting 650 attoseconds. Attosecond physics is helpful for future research because processes at the subatomic level happen extremely quickly and were previously impossible to follow. With this new breakthrough in attosecond physics, the door can now be opened to the world of electrons and we are now presented with the opportunity to understand these processes and mechanisms governed by electrons. A potentially useful application of attosecond physics is in medical diagnostics where these attosecond pulses can be used to help identify different molecules.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
Every student of chemistry learns that electrons govern the properties of any given element. However, at the nano-dimensional level, quantum phenomena take place which results in properties governed by the size of the matter instead. Quantum dots are an example of such nanoparticles. One of their unusual properties is that their colour changes depending on their size. Size-dependent quantum effects have long been known by physicists but few people believed this theory to be of any practical use due to the almost impossible task of working and creating things in nano dimensions.
In the 1980s, Alexei Ekimov succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. Then, Louis Brus proved size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid a few years later. Moungi Bawendi then contributed to this field in 1993 through his revolutionary chemical production methods of quantum dots, enabling them to be used in applications. Quantum dots have several practical applications and are now used to illuminate television screens and computer monitors based on QLED technology. They also have medical applications where doctors and biochemists use them to help map biological tissue, useful for guiding surgeons during complex surgeries for example. In the future, quantum dots could revolutionise flexible electronics, thinner solar cells, as well as encrypted quantum communication.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.” The research of the laureates fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, laying the groundwork for the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during the pandemic. Previous vaccines were based on killed or weakened viruses and have been used for decades. They give the body a headstart in combating diseases in the event of an infection. These production methods require large-scale cell cultures and are resource-intensive, inhibiting the possibilities for rapid vaccine development in response to endemics and pandemics. mRNA provided an efficient way to develop vaccines without cell culture, called in vitro transcription. However, in vitro produced mRNA had several other complications which made it difficult to use in vaccine development, one of them being adverse inflammatory reactions. The breakthrough came from modifying the bases in the in vitro transcribed RNA, which almost completely eradicated the inflammatory responses previously plaguing mRNA vaccine development.
The discoveries and breakthroughs of the 2023 Nobel Laureates have truly benefited humankind, serving as a testament to the enduring power of human curiosity and innovation. They have provided us with a better world to live in and are a reminder of what we can achieve with science, encouraging us all to continue dreaming big.