The Biophysical Society (BPS) commends Frances Arnold, California Institute of Technology, on her shared Nobel Prize in chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted her work harnessed the power of evolution in the laboratory to produce new, beneficial enzymes that are now used in many fields and industries. Arnold is only the fifth woman to win a chemistry Nobel since the prizes began in 1901.

“Frances Arnold being selected for a Nobel Prize is an inspiration to aspiring female biophysicists across the world,” said Ro Kampman, Executive Director. “On behalf of the Biophysical Society, we extend a hardy congratulations to her and the other winners of the prize in chemistry, George Smith and Greg Winter, for their important contributions to the field.”

“We at Biophysical Journal congratulate the 2018 winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Frances Arnold, George Smith and Gregory Winter, awarded for directed evolution of enzymes and phage display of peptides and antibodies,” said Jane Dyson, Editor-in-Chief, Biophysical Journal. “We at BJ would like to send our particular congratulations to Dr. Arnold, who has published much of her work in our Journal. This year’s prize recognizes a suite of techniques that harness evolutionary processes in biology to achieve chemical ends, and approach that will continue to revolutionize not only the preparative aspects of chemical processes, but the fundamental understanding of these processes at work.”