The recipients of the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath, reports the New York Times. The researchers independently used X-ray crystallography to study the structure of the ribosome and how it translates nucleic acids into proteins. They each also generated 3D models of the process. "This knowledge can be put to a practical and immediate use; many of today's antibiotics cure various diseases by blocking the function of bacterial ribosomes," says a press release from the Nobel foundation.
In the Daily Scan poll of potential winners — which like in physics, we missed out on the actual winners — the leader was Jacqueline Barton. Better luck next time.