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Nobel Prizes: what applications for the work of the latest winners?

4 episodes
  • 1
    Nobel Prize in Physics 2023: an unprecedented image of the infinitely small
  • 2
    Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023: what's in it for industry?
  • 3
    Nobel Prize in Economics: understanding gender inequalities in employment
  • 4
    Modifying DNA: applications of the CRISPR discovery
Épisode 1/4
On May 29th, 2024
4 min reading time
Stefan Haessler
Stefan Haessler
CNRS Research Fellow at Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée (CNRS, ENSTA, École Polytechnique)

Key takeaways

  • The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for their work on attosecond laser pulses.
  • These lasers pulses make it possible to observe the dynamics of electrons in matter and open the door to a wide range of studies.
  • The generation of attosecond pulses is mainly based on the method of colliding electrons with their atoms, developed by Anne L’Huillier.
  • This ability to take a snapshot of the infinitely small is useful in many fields, such as biology, to gain a better understanding of the damage caused to DNA by certain types of radiation.
  • In the future, scientists hope to develop even shorter pulses to observe protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei.
Épisode 2/4
On April 30th, 2024
4 min reading time
Thierry Gacoin
Thierry Gacoin
Professor of Materials Science in the Physics and Chemistry Departments of École Polytechnique (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  • In 2023 Aleksey Yekimov, Louis Brus and Moungi Bawendi were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery of colloidal quantum dots.
  • These nanoparticles of semiconductor material are unique in that their properties are determined by their size.
  • Before their discovery, the only way to vary the properties of a material was to change its composition.
  • The applications are varied: QLED televisions, infrared detection, or the study of information transmission at the synaptic level.
  • However, the industrial manufacture of quantum dots remains a challenge.
  • In the future, this discovery opens the way to innovative applications, notably for quantum computers and nanotechnologies.
Épisode 3/4
On September 9th, 2024
5 min reading time
Sara Signorelli
Sara Signorelli
Assistant professor at CREST at Ecole Polytechnique (IP Paris)
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Roland Rathelot
Professor of Economics at ENSAE (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  • The American economist Claudia Goldin was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2023 for her work on the place of women in the labour market with her analyses of wage inequality.
  • She has shown that women’s participation in the economy has followed a U-shaped trajectory, influenced by major societal changes such as the contraceptive pill.
  • Her working method is particularly innovative, drawing on historical data, analysing the long term and formulating multiple hypotheses.
  • Claudia Goldin describes a “silent revolution” in the early 1970s, launched in particular by contraception, which enabled American women to plan and build their professional careers.
  • Despite this progress, the economist notes that pay inequalities persist, notably because of “greedy jobs” and flexible working.
Épisode 4/4
On March 27th, 2024
7 min reading time
Tania Louis
Tania Louis
PhD in biology and Columnist at Polytechnique Insights

Key takeaways

  • CRISPRs are DNA sequences found in many prokaryotes, useful for defense against viruses, which have been adapted to develop a gene-editing tool.
  • CRISPR-Cas enables genomes to be modified rapidly and precisely, by cutting and inserting new DNA sequences.
  • Its applications are wide-ranging: gene therapy, healthcare, agriculture, bioproduction, etc.
  • CRIPSR-Cas raises many ethical questions, and its potential uses and implications give rise to widely differing opinions, notably in the European Parliament.