A Summary of the 2025 Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics and medicine and the science behind them
By NAREN KRISHNA JEGAN— science@theaggie.org
Recently, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the 2025 Nobel prize in physics, chemistry and medicine. From sugar-sized cubes that could trap water from the driest of deserts to uncovering the way our immune system fights off diseases like cancer, here is an explanation of the winners’ groundbreaking work.
Chemistry:
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi “for the development of metal–organic frameworks.” A metal-organic framework (MOF) is a hyperporous material that is made by linking metal ions or clusters with organic molecules to form ordered, 3D networks. UC Davis Professor Ambarish Kulkarni and Ph.D. student Sudheesh Kumar Ethirajan actively study MOFs at UC Davis, sharing the importance of this work.
“The most fascinating aspect of MOFs and why it deserved a Nobel Prize (despite no large scale industrial uses yet), is the fact that this discovery bridges the distinction between a molecule and a crystal,” Kulkarni said. “By showing that porous solids could be engineered and put together much like Lego, Omar Yaghi opened up entirely new dimensions in synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry.”
Although Yaghi remains one of the most recognizable chemists for the coining of the term “metal-organic framework” and for the creation of MOF-5 — the first stable, permanently porous MOF — this work goes far beyond him.
“Richard Robson pioneered the idea of using molecules, not just atoms, as building blocks for extended frameworks,” Ethirajan said. “In the 1970s-80s, he designed the first large, open crystalline structures originally called coordination polymers that revealed how metal ions and organic ligands could form stable networks with internal cavities. Susumu Kitagawa advanced the field by developing robust, stable and flexible frameworks. He demonstrated that these materials could act as molecular sponges, capable of absorbing and releasing gases. Kitagawa also introduced the concept of ‘MOF generations,’ foreseeing ever-more complex and multifunctional designs.”
MOFs have been explored for various uses such as catalysis, energy storage and filtration. A few years ago, Yaghi shocked the world with the power of MOF-303, which was able to extract clear water from arid deserts without any electricity.
“The key challenge moving forward is to identify the millions of MOFs that can be synthesized in the lab, which ones should be synthesized at scale and at what cost,” Kulkarni said. “This requires finding applications where MOFs have distinct advantages — several are possible, we study a few computationally — and ensuring that they’re not too expensive compared to cheaper, more mature alternatives such as zeolites.”
Physics:
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was 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.”
If you throw a ball at a wall, you wouldn’t expect the ball to phase through the wall; you’d rather expect it to bounce back at you. This expected behavior works for objects that are larger relative to atoms, and is studied in classical mechanics. When we perform the same experiment in the atomic and subatomic scale, we operate on a new set of rules given by quantum mechanics. However, these three laureates asked: At what size of a system would these special rules be allowed to take place?
Physics Today Editor-in-Chief Richard Fitzgerald worked in this field in the 1990s, when some of the crucial discoveries were made.
“[What the three physicists did] is taking the scale of something that we can’t see, we can’t touch, we can’t feel and bringing it up to the scale of something recognizable and make it something you can build upon,” Fitzgerald said.
In quantum mechanics, electrons behave both like tiny particles and like waves. When they reach a wall of energy that should stop them, their wave-like nature lets part of them “leak” through. This means that, instead of bouncing back, there’s a chance the electron will suddenly show up on the other side — as if it had slipped through a solid barrier. This strange effect is called quantum tunneling and was studied extensively by these physicists.
The laureates created a small electrical circuit on a chip that acted as a racetrack for electrons. Using materials called superconductors which would allow electrons to race with each other, as well as insulators which would cause the electrons to crash, the laureates found that despite this barrier, the electrons would still propagate through and generate an electric current.
Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics Olle Eriksson praised the discovery during this announcement of the prize.
“There is no advanced technology today that does not rely on quantum mechanics,” Eriksson said. “Examples are easy to find […] mobile phones, computers, cameras and the fiber optic cables that connect our world.”
The findings marked one of the first experiments that took theoretical physics into tangible systems that could be studied and applied. Using this tunnelling phenomena, the groundwork of these three laureates set the foundation for the development of quantum computing, sensing and communication.
Medicine and Physiology:
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”
The immune system is similar to an orchestra, wherein each instrument (the many types of immune cells) has its own role to play in protecting the body. When they’re in tune, the performance is powerful and precise, defending against infections while leaving healthy tissues untouched. However, if one section starts playing too loudly or at the wrong time, an autoimmune response is elicited.
The laureates sought to understand what keeps this biological symphony in balance. Sakaguchi discovered a special group of cells called regulatory T cells (T-regs) — the conductors of the immune orchestra. These cells guide and restrain the other immune players, ensuring that their activity stays harmonious. Sakaguchi specifically found that malignant T cells could be eliminated by regulatory T cells, due to the presence of the CD25 surface protein. Later, Brunkow and Ramsdell identified the key gene FOXP3, which acts like the conductor’s score. Without it, the T-regs lose their ability to keep order, leading to dangerous autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Adrian Liston, professor of pathology at the University of Cambridge, commented on the discovery.
“Regulatory T cells keep most of us from having autoimmunity and allerg[ies] […] By having a strong system of brakes present, we are able to have stronger and faster immune reactions — the same way that a car can have a better accelerator if it has good brakes,” Liston said. “It really is an essential part of the immune system and leads to early fatal disease in childhood if it is broken.”
Their work revealed how the immune system maintains tolerance to the body’s own tissues, preventing the body from attacking itself. This discovery opened new possibilities for treating autoimmune disorders, improving organ transplants and even fine-tuning immune responses in cancer therapy — teaching the body when to stay quiet and when to play its strongest notes.
2025 marked a momentous year for the University of California (UC) system. Across these three disciplines, five laureates have ties to the UC: Yaghi to UC Berkeley; Ramsdell to UC San Diego and UCLA; Clarke to UC Berkeley; Devoret to UC Santa Barbara; and Martinis to UC Santa Barbara. This year also marks the second time an all-UC Nobel in the sciences was awarded: The first was in 1939 to Ernest O. Lawrence from UC Berkeley.
These innovations represent a fundamental attribute of science — the continual pursuit of truth and curiosity. Where there is a question, there’s an answer that may change how we think and what we do.
Written by: Naren Krishna Jegan— science@theaggie.org
