John Hamilton

So biotech companies are looking for ways to keep these cells alive by blocking signals that start the fatal process.

Doug Green of St.

Jude Children's Research Hospital says several firms think they can do this with treatments known as antisense drugs.

Antisense drugs can keep a cell from making certain proteins.

In this case, the drugs are designed to reduce proteins that carry the signals responsible for programmed cell death.

John Hamilton, NPR News.

In 1989, Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia, showed how to make molecular structures that resembled porous diamonds.

But these structures, called metal-organic frameworks, tended to collapse until two other scientists found better assembly methods.

One of these scientists is Omar Yagi of the University of California, Berkeley.

The other is Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University in Japan.

Kitagawa told reporters that these new molecular structures could improve the heavy metal cylinders used to transport liquefied natural gas.

John Hamilton, NPR News.

NPR's John Hamilton has more.

The prize went to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University in Japan, Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Omar Yagi of the University of California, Berkeley.

They were honored for their pioneering work on materials called metal-organic frameworks.

The frameworks are molecular structures that contain large spaces inside, which can be used to capture and store a wide range of substances.

One application is capturing the carbon dioxide produced by power plants.

Another is to store and release hydrogen so that it can be safely used as a fuel.

And in desert areas, metal organic frameworks can be used to extract drinking water from even the driest air.

John Hamilton, NPR News.