Professor Alison Hulme comments on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry win for 'click' chemistry- which allows molecules to link together, like Lego pieces. The technique can be used to develop cancer treatments. Professor Alison Hulme at University of Edinburgh, explains that the same process applies in click chemistry. "Two chemical partners are perfectly designed to match each other so that when they come into contact with each other in the right environment, they just click together," she told BBC News. But at first it could not be used in living cells - essential for understanding disease - because it involved the use of copper which kills cells. Professor Bertozzi's ground-breaking discovery made click chemistry work in living cells. She was able to bypass the copper ions by using other components that react. Her work means scientists can do "chemistry inside the human body, to make sure drugs go to the right place and stay away from the wrong place", she said. It is also a "biological discovery tool" that allows scientists to see new molecules that we didn't know existed, she explains. BBC News article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63121338 This article was published on 2024-03-13
