23 December – 2000-2010: Yonath, Geim & Gai
Day 23 of the chemistry advent timeline starts with Ada Yonath, a Nobel Prize-winning investigator of the structure of the ribosome. In her investigations, she developed a new crystallography technique and also determined the mode of action of several antibiotics.
Andre Geim discovered graphene with Konstantin Novoselov in 2004. They made their discovery by peeling off layers of graphite with tape, and later won a Nobel Prize for their work. Graphene has a number of potential applications.
Pratibha Gai developed a microscope which allows reactions to be viewed on an atomic scale. She chose not to patent her creation so that it could be fully utilised by other researchers.
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