For the scientific community, the Nobel Prize announcements are an important part of the yearly science calendar. The award is one of the most widely celebrated and gives us a moment to reflect on some of the leading scientific work taking place around the world. This year’s winners include Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum entanglement. Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for their work on click chemistry. And Svante Pääbo for his work on sequencing Neanderthal DNA. To understand the science behind the award winners better, we’ve invited a variety of speakers to help us understand their work better. Award winner, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Professor of Chemistry at Stanford, explains the basics behind click chemistry, a practice that has helped us to study molecules and their interactions in living things without interfering with natural biological processes. Mateja Hajdinjak, Postdoctoral Training Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, celebrated alongside her former PhD. tutor, Svante Paabo in Germany this week. We talk to her about his significance in the development of DNA sequencing in ancient humans.And Professor Shohini Ghose of the Institute of Quantum Computing at Waterloo University in Canada joins us to explain the complicated world of quantum entanglement. Also this week, we meet Jessica Thompson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, who’s been considering how new parents manage the tricky job of childcare while out on fieldwork. She’s behind a new survey encouraging fellow scientists to consider how to approach the challenge of parental duties differently in the future. Human sexuality comes in many forms, from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. But seeing as homosexuality creates apparent reproductive and evolutionary disadvantages, listener Ahmed from Oslo wants to know: why are some people gay?CrowdScience presenter Caroline Steel examines what science can - and can't - tell us about the role of nature, nurture and evolution in human sexual attraction. She asks a geneticist what we know of the oft-debated 'gay gene', as well as looking into why homosexual men on average have more older brothers than heterosexual men.Caroline looks into the role of nurture with a developmental psychologist to answer a question from a CrowdScience listener from Myanmar. He wonders if the distant relationship he has with his own father has impacted his own feelings of attraction.She also learns about research into a group of people in Samoa who may shed light on the benefits of traditionally non-reproductive relationships for communities as a whole.(Photo: A monument to Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Carolyn Bertozzi, a 2022 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry and Stanford professor, dives into the revolutionary world of bioorthogonal chemistry. She unpacks how this technique allows targeted drug delivery in cancer treatment without harming healthy cells. Bertozzi shares insights on the significance of cellular sugars and their role in disease detection, recounting a breakthrough moment in visualization technology. The conversation also touches on click chemistry and the importance of diversity in scientific fields, driving a passion for inclusive chemistry education.

Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, renowned for her pioneering work in bioorthogonal chemistry, chats with Jorge Conde about her groundbreaking research. They discuss how manipulating chemical reactions in the body can enhance cancer treatment and drug delivery. Carolyn shares her journey through carbohydrate chemistry during the AIDS crisis, highlighting sugars' dual role in immune responses. The conversation also covers the challenges of translating discoveries into market-ready solutions and insights on bridging academia with biotech innovations.