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Friday February 1, 2008

Stanford professor wins Israeli science prize

by dan pine
staff writer

Despite conventional wisdom, W.E. Moerner sweats the small stuff. The very small stuff.

A Stanford University chemistry professor, Moerner pioneered the field of single molecule spectroscopy, which examines the appearance and behavior of organic molecules one at a time.

This small stuff is a big deal in the scientific world. So big, it earned Moerner the recently announced 2008 Wolf Prize in chemistry. He will share the $100,000 award with a Texas-based professor who has done similar work.

The Wolf Foundation sponsors the prestigious prize, launched in Israel in 1976 by Dr. Ricardo Subirana y Lobo Wolf and his wife, Francisca. The foundation also gives annual prizes in agriculture, mathematics, physics, medicine and the arts.

Moerner, who is not Jewish, will travel to Jerusalem in May to accept the prize, which will be presented by Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Knesset’s Chagall Hall. This is his first trip to Israel.

So what, exactly, is single molecule spectroscopy?

Moerner began his explanation with a baseball analogy. “Imagine you were to look at baseball players and you wanted to know the batting average of the team,” he said. “If you knew the average, you’d have an ensemble number. But what if you wanted to contrast that with a distribution of averages? If you look at players individually, you look at a distribution.”

From there, it was a quick segue into the nano world. “We can now do that with molecules, measure the properties on a bunch of different molecules and build up this distribution,” he said.

Turns out individual molecules have personalities, which Moerner calls “hidden heterogeneity.”

Thanks to his pioneering work, other researchers around the world are experimenting in the field. Moerner says it opens “a window into the nano world. These molecules are typically one or two nanometers in size.”

As for applications, Moerner said his work has led to new methods of DNA gene sequencing.

How does it feel to win one of the world’s most coveted science awards?

“This was definitely a surprise,” said Moerner, who was nominated without his knowledge. “This is one of those things you don’t really expect, although you work hard for many years.”

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