John Fenn of the United States, Japan's Koichi Tanaka and Kurt Wuethrich of Switzerland won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for advances in the understanding the process of life.
They share the $1 million prize for developing powerful analytical tools for studying large molecules like proteins, which can lead to new drugs to tackle disease, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
"Their work has paved the way for the future finding of a cure for cancer," said Bengt Norden, chairman of the Nobel committee for chemistry. "Without it, there would be no modern pharmaceuticals."
Tanaka, 43, is the youngest chemistry laureate since 1934 and the second Japanese Nobel winner this year following Masatoshi Koshiba, one of the physics laureates. He works at precision equipment maker Shimadzu Corp. 7701.T> in Kyoto, Japan.
Wuethrich, 64, is the fifth Swiss chemistry laureate, and the first since 1991.
Fenn, 85, and Tanaka will share one half of the prize and Wuethrich will receive the other half.