Scientists Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. Barry Sharpless, 81, becomes only the fifth person in history to win a Nobel twice.

Barry Sharpless was invited by Ding Kuiling, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and executive vice president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, to visit Minhang Campus in 2019, bringing a wonderful report entitled "Application of SuFEx Click Chemistry in Biology" to teachers and students at Jiao Tong University.

Regarding his friend winning another Nobel Prize, Ding Kuiling said, "Sharpless winning another Nobel Prize is well deserved, and we have all been looking forward to it for many years."

The field of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry has been harnessed to improve the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals now being tested in clinical trials, along with a host of health, agricultural and industrial applications.

Around the year 2000, Sharpless created the concept of click chemistry, which is a form of simple and reliable chemistry, where reactions occur quickly and unwanted by-products are avoided, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.