X-rays: Rönrgen, von Laue and the Braggs, 1900-1915

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (Nobel Prize in physics, 1901), Max von Laue (Nobel Prize in physics, 1914), and father and son Bragg (Nobel Prize in physics,1915): The prizes were awarded to these 4 persons for their contribution to the discovery of X-rays, understanding their nature as electromagnetic waves and their use in revealing the atomic structure of matter.

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Chlorophyll, ultracentrifuge, protein crystallization, 1915-1946

These prizes were awarded to Richard Martin Willstätter (Nobelprize in chemistry 1915), for the discovery of chlorophyll, The Svedberg (Nobel prize in chemistry 1926) for the development of the method of ultracentrifugation, and to James Batcheller Sumner, John Howard Northrop and Wendell Meredith Stanley (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1946) for protein crystallization and preparation of enzymes and viruses in pure form.

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The first life structures: 1954, 1962 and 1964

These prizes were awarded 1954, 1962 and 1964 for the discoveries and research into the nature of the chemical bond (Linus Pauling), molecular structure of nucleic acids, and the first X-ray structure of a protein molecule (Max Perutz, John Kendrew), and the determination of the X-ray structures of penicillin and vitamin B12 (Dorothy Hodgkin).
The first detailed life structures: The story

The genetic code, 1968

Robert W. Holle, Har Gobind Khorana and Marshall W. Nirenberg receive the 1968 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.

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Electron crystallography, 1982

Aaron Klug receives the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry or his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.

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Direct methods, 1985

Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle receive the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry or their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures.

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The photosynthetic reaction center, 1988

Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber & Hartmut Michel were awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center.

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ATP synthesis, 1997

Paul D. Boyer, John E. Walker and Jens C. Skou were awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

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Mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, 2002

John B. Fenn, Koichi Tanaka and Kurt Wüthrich were awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of methods for identification and structure analyses of biological macromolecules, mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution.

Structure and function of ionic and water channels, 2003

Peter Agre & Roderick MacKinnon, Nobel prize in Chemistry 2003 or discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes

Transcription, 2006

Roger Kornberg, Nobel prize in Chemistry, 2006 for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription

The ribosome, mechamism of translation, 2009

Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz, Ada Yonath 2009 Nobel prize in chemistry, or studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.