The American Chemical Society (ACS) announced that Frances H. Arnold is being awarded the 2025 Priestley medal. The award is the highest honour bestowed by ACS, and it annually recognizes an individual for distinguished service to chemistry. Arnold is being honoured ‘for her pioneering contributions to the development of directed evolution as a method for chemical and biological design’. She was also awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2018 for the technique.
The methodology has enabled significant advancements in industrial biocatalysis, pharmaceuticals and the development of sustainable chemical processes. Arnold has continued to develop it since the early 1990s, and it has changed how scientists improve and use enzymes in various industries. By making small changes and selecting the best results, Arnold’s method has allowed the creation of better enzymes for use in medicine and environmental solutions.
As per the press release, the technique is used in industrial laboratories to optimize enzymes, antibodies and other therapeutic proteins; to alter metabolic pathways in microorganisms to enhance their ability to convert raw materials to higher-value biological products; and even to modify whole organisms. Arnold showed that enzymes could be ‘bred’ for behaviour that may not be relevant in a natural context but is important for human use.
“She is a distinguished scientist, a pioneering engineer, a wonderful role model for young men and women, and a successful entrepreneur who has had extraordinary impact on the way we think about chemical and biological design and the biotechnology industry,” said David Tirrell, provost, the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and the Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Arnold holds several positions, including co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry at Caltech.
She is also the director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center. She earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Arnold will formally accept the Priestley Medal and deliver an address at ACS Spring 2025 in San Diego.
