Three scientists have won the Nobel prize in chemistry for their work in harnessing evolution to produce new enzymes and antibodies.

Frances H Arnold, George P Smith and Gregory P Winter win Nobel prize in chemistry

Three scientists have won the Nobel prize in chemistry for their work in harnessing evolution to produce new enzymes and antibodies.

British scientist Sir Gregory P Winter and Americans Frances H Arnold and George P Smith will share the 9m Swedish kronor (£770,000) prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Half of the prize goes to Arnold, from the California Institute of Technology, for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes – proteins that speed up chemical reactions. In a nutshell, Arnold introduced genetic mutations into enzymes and then looked to see what effect the mutations had. She then selected the cases where a particular mutation proved useful – for example, allowing the enzyme to work in a solvent it would otherwise not work in.

Her work has made it possible to cut out the use of many toxic catalysts and has led to the development of enzymes for all manner of fields, including the development of biofuels and the production of pharmaceuticals.

The other half of the award goes to Winter and Smith, for their work on “phage display of peptides and antibodies.” A phage is a virus that can infect bacteria, “tricking” bacteria to reproduce it. Smith genetically engineered phages so that they would include a certain protein on their outer capsule. He was the ability to separate out these modified phages from those without the protein. The technique means that scientists are able to explore how the protein might interact with. Winter used this technology to develop new drugs that have transformed medicine, offering therapies for diseases ranging from cancer to autoimmune conditions.

Arnold is only the fifth woman to be awarded the prize for Chemistry – the last female scientist to scoop the award was Ada E. Yonath in 2009 who shared the prize for her work on understanding the structure of ribosomes: the protein-manufacturing structures inside cells.

Prof Carol Robinson, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry welcomed the announcement. “Today’s Nobel Prize in chemistry highlights the tremendous role of chemistry in contributing to many areas of our lives including pharmaceuticals, detergents, green catalysis and biofuels,” she said. “Directed evolution of enzymes and antibody technology are subjects that I have followed with keen interest; both are now transforming medicine.”