The Nobel Prize in Chemistry this morning went to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for breakthroughs in designing molecular machines. Their insights on building tiny motors -- 1,000 times thinner than a strand of hair -- have led to molecular robots that can pluck out and connect individual amino acids. They can also be used for drug delivery. And there's more to come: The Nobel committee said the molecular motor is about as advanced at this stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, "when researchers proudly displayed various spinning cranks and wheels in their laboratories without having any idea that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans, and food processors." The miniscule machinery honored today will likely be used in the future to build an array of sensors, energy storage systems, and even new material.

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world's smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard "Ben" Feringa share the 8 million kronor ( 930,000) prize for the "design and synthesis of molecular machines," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Machines at the molecular level are 1,000th the width of a human hair and have taken chemistry to a new dimension, the academy said. Molecular machines "will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems." Stoddart has already developed a molecule-based computer chip with 20 kB memory.