Caltech Scientist Is Fifth Woman To Win Nobel Prize

PASADENA, CA — Half of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry went Wednesday to a Caltech scientist who becomes only the fifth woman to win the prize.

She is Frances H. Arnold, a scientist and engineer at the California Institute of Technology.

In announcing the award in Stockholm, Sweden, the Royal Swedish Academy said that this year's prize "awards a revolution based on evolution" and goes to scientists who ``applied the principles of Darwin in the test tube."

Arnold was recognized for performing the first-ever ``directed evolution" of enzymes, which are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from sustainable biofuels to pharmaceuticals.

The other half of the prize went jointly to George P. Smith, a professor at the University of Missouri, and Sir Gregory P. Winter of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

The methods developed by the laureates are reported to have been put to work to create new enzymes and antibodies used in promoting a greener chemicals industry, mitigating disease and saving lives.

City News Service;

Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 1: President Barack Obama awards the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Frances H. Arnold in a ceremony at the White House on February 1, 2013 in Washington, DC. The National Medal of Science recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering, while the National Medal of Technology and Innovation recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America's competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation's technological workforce. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)