The Nobel Prizes are some of the most prestigious awards available to creators, leaders and scientists in the world. Awarded by the Nobel Foundation, the prizes commend those that have achieved greatness in the six available categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Economic Sciences, and Peace.
In this article, Associates Max Ziemann, Clare Pratt and Greg Jones examine the innovation behind the laureates that have been granted the Nobel Prizes of this year, discussing the award-winning innovation that have taken home the prizes in their specialist areas.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry by Max Ziemann
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in the field of Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal–organic frameworks
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a type of macromolecule having an extended structure made of metal ions and organic linkers in a repeating pattern. In many cases, MOFs contain large pores within their molecular structures, which are able to take part in ‘host–guest chemistry’, i.e. holding smaller molecules in place within the pores.
Richard Robson first modelled MOF-like structures with metal ions and organic building blocks in 1974 during his time at the University of Melbourne. He considered the potential in linking different types of molecules together to form a diamond-like lattice structure, instead of using individual atoms. In 1989 Robson designed a tetrahedral nitrile containing ligand (4′,4′′,4′′′,4′′′′ tetracyanotetraphenylmethane) which was able to form a co-ordination complex with copper in a repeating tetrahedral lattice providing large pores between the copper centres. Robson theorised that the pores within such structures could be used to catalyse chemical reactions. However, these early MOFs lacked the chemical stability for such a use.
In 1997 Susumu Kitagawa designed a three-dimensional MOF using cobalt, nickel, or zinc in combination with 4,4’-bipyridine to form an MOF structure intersected by open channels and providing spaces that could be filled with gas (methane, nitrogen, oxygen, etc) whilst retaining stability. Kitagawa also pioneered flexible MOFs which can change shape, for example when they are filled or emptied. Flexibility of the MOF structure can lead to significant changes in their physical and chemical properties. This has a major impact on the adsorption and desorption of guest molecules from pores within the MOF which allows for fine-tuned adsorption and desorption in response to external stimuli.
Omar M. Yaghi was responsible for coining the term MOF in 1992. In 1995 Yaghi achieved crystallisation of metal-organic structures using metal ions and charged dicarboxylate linkers, as well as removal of guest molecules to provide a highly stable and porous structure. Yaghi’s lab first synthesised ‘MOF-5’, a MOF of the formula Zn4O(BDC)3 where BDC2- is terephthalic acid. MOF-5 is notable for exhibiting one of the highest surface area to volume ratios of any MOF, at 2200 m2/cm3, which is approximately a football pitch worth of area within the size of a sugar cube. Various analogues of MOF-5 have since been developed with differing dicarboxylate linkers in order to fine tune the dimensions of the cavities.
This combination of properties gives MOFs an enormous potential for gas storage within the pores of the MOF structure. Yaghi’s group have even designed MOFs that are capable of harvesting atmospheric water from desert air simply by trapping water molecules in specialised pores. Flexible properties and enormous surface area to volume ratios allow for very large volumes of gas to be stored and released at will within an MOF structure. MOFs can also be tailored for gas separation, such as carbon capture applications. MOFs therefore have a huge potential in environmentally beneficial technology including both capture and storage of greenhouse gasses (CO2, methane, NOx, etc) as well as storage and controlled release of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
Kitagawa, Robson, and Yaghi have made considerable scientific contributions to the field of chemistry, which will no doubt continue being developed for key climate change mitigation strategies including absorption of greenhouse gases and providing water security.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by Clare Pratt
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance, the mechanisms by which our immune system spares our own tissues while still defending against pathogens.
A major challenge for the immune system, which encounters countless microbes, bacteria, viruses, and other threats every day, is to ensure that immune responses do not mistakenly target the body’s own cells. When this regulation fails and the immune system attacks self-tissues, autoimmune disease results. The prevailing understanding had been that an immunological process called central immune tolerance, the elimination of any developing T or B lymphocytes that are autoreactive in the thymus, was primarily responsible for preventing such reactions. However, the laureates are recognised this year for uncovering the complementary and crucial role of peripheral immune tolerance.
In the 1990s, Sakaguchi carried out experiments in mice that had their thymuses removed. These mice developed severe autoimmune disease, suggesting that mechanisms beyond thymic deletion were needed to maintain tolerance. Further research led him to identify a subset of CD4⁺ T cells expressing CD25 (the IL-2 receptor α-chain), classed as regulatory T cells (Tregs), which act as a “brake” on the immune response and protect the body from autoimmune attack.
This was followed by work from Brunkow and Ramsdell who, while studying a mouse strain known as scurfy, discovered a mutation in the Foxp3 gene that caused severe autoimmune disease. In 2001, they demonstrated that mutations in the human ortholog, FOXP3, cause IPEX syndrome (Immune dysregulation, Polyendocrinopathy, Enteropathy, X-linked).
Two years later, Sakaguchi built on these findings, showing that FOXP3 is a master regulator of the development and function of regulatory T cells, and that these cells regulate immune activity to ensure the body’s defences do not turn against itself.
Their discoveries opened a new field in immunology, peripheral tolerance, and have become vital to the development of new medical treatments. These insights are informing therapies for autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation, where modulating regulatory T cells may improve graft acceptance and reduce the need for long-term immunosuppression. They have also paved the way for novel approaches in autoimmunity and cancer immunotherapy, where targeting regulatory T cells is an area of active clinical research.
The Nobel Prize in Physics by Greg Jones
Awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for the “discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”
Those that are familiar with quantum technology and the associated developments of quantum sensors, computers and cryptography, might already be aware of the pivotal work of Martinis, Devoret and Clarke in this field. Their contributions have been fundamental in helping to bridge the gap between theory and the practical applications of quantum mechanics.
Through experiments performed in 1984 and 1985at the University of California, the future Nobel Laureates investigated the whether quantum mechanical effects could only be demonstrated at a microscopic scale with the examination of only a small number of particles. At that time, a common belief was that quantum mechanics was limited to a much smaller scale, and could not be visibly demonstrated in larger, macroscopic objects.
Using a superconducting electrical circuit (an electrical circuit which has no electrical resistance), the trio used an approximately 1cm2 silicon chip containing a Josephson junction (a thin layer of non-conductive material between the superconductors within the circuit) to explore the outcome when a current passed through the circuit. The measurement of the voltage across the Josephson junction provided direct evidence that quantum mechanics could be an influence in macroscopic systems, by showing that quantum tunnelling had occurred through the Josephson junction, a phenomenon that is impossible through a classical ‘non-quantum’ model of physics.
Their research not only expanded the understanding of quantum mechanics but also demonstrated the potential for practical applications at a larger scale.
