The Chemistry Prize

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2010 has been awarded to Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi of the USA, and Akira Suzuki, Japan, "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis"
The Science
Carbon-based (organic) chemistry is the basis of life. It is responsible for many fascinating natural phenomena from colour in flowers to bacteria-killing substances such as penicillin.
Carbon has the ability to provide a stable backbone on which functional molecules can be built, leading to the development of new materials from medicines to plastics.
In order to create these complex chemicals, chemists need to be able to join carbon atoms together. However, carbon is stable and carbon atoms do not easily react with one another.
The Nobel prize winners showed how carbon atoms could be made to meet on a palladium atom and so come close enough to start the chemical reaction. This process is called palladium-catalyzed cross coupling and provided chemists with a more precise and efficient tool to work with.
Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling is used in research worldwide, as well as in the commercial production of for example pharmaceuticals and molecules used in the electronics industry.
The Physiology/Medicine prize
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 was awarded to Robert G. Edwards, England, for the development of in-vitro fertilization.
The Science
In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is an established therapy when sperm and egg cannot meet inside the body.
Edwards realized in the 1950s that fertilization outside the body could be a possible treatment of infertility. It took another twenty years to understand the details of the processes involved.
Then, in 1977, Lesley and John Brown came to the clinic after nine years of failed attempts to have a child. IVF treatment was carried out. The fertilized egg cell divided several times and formed an embryo, 8 cells in size. It was then inserted into the womb of Mrs Brown. A healthy baby, Louise Brown, was born on 25 July, 1978, popularly called the first test-tube baby. (Actually the egg was fertilised in a cell-culture dish, not a test-tube).
Approximately four million individuals have been born around the world with the help of IVF treatment.
The Econnomics Prize
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2010 has been awarded to Peter A. Diamond and Dale T. Mortensen, USA, and Christopher A. Pissarides, UK, "for their analysis of markets with search frictions".
The Science
Why are so many people unemployed at the same time that there are a large number of job openings? How can economic policy affect unemployment? This year's Laureates have developed a theory which can be used to answer these questions.
This theory is also applicable to markets other than the labour market. This includes, in particular, the housing market. Search theory has also been used to study questions related to monetary theory, public economics, financial economics, regional economics, and family economics.