The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Joachim Frank of Columbia University, Dr. Jacques Dubochet of Lausanne University and Dr. Richard Henderson of MRC Molecular Biology Institute for “developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution”.
High-resolution atomic level structural analysis of proteins is essential for understanding life and for identifying and treating the causes of associated diseases. Particularly in the development of pharmaceutical drugs, the high-resolution structure is the most powerful information at the stage of optimization of a candidate compound. This is because it provides guidelines for improvement of the compound once interactions between it and the target protein have been identified, and the environment and space around the compound can be closely examined.