"I propose a toast to evolution – may we use it well!" Frances H. Arnold, Nobel Prize in Chemistry

your Majesties your Royal Highnesses

excellencies laureates ladies and

gentlemen let me start with a question

why did Newton's Apple fall to the

ground

because physics comes first here I will

start with the answer from the

physicists there is a force called

gravity that exists between any two

objects with a magnitude proportional to

the product of the object's masses and

inversely proportional to the square of

the distance between the Centers of the

masses the Apple is therefore propelled

by this force towards the center of the

earth when it leaves the tree now we

will move to the answer from the

evolutionary biologist once upon a time

apples used to go in all directions

up down sideways the world was full of

ricocheting apples however only those

apples that fell to the ground were able

to germinate and grow new trees

[Music]

and of course over millions of years the

forces of evolution selected for those

which fell to the ground which is why

apples now fall to the ground now we are

three chemists who shamelessly

expropriated from physics and biology

including their terrible jokes to create

molecules for the common good we share

deep admiration for evolution a force of

nature that has led to the finest

chemistry of all time and to all living

things on this planet the fuel for

evolution as you well know is diversity

with natural selection leading to the

continuous adaptations and improvements

in nature's handiwork organisms and

organizations without this diversity are

doomed to extinction in a rapidly

changing world you think of this Nature

has explored only a tiny fraction of the

life and life's molecules that are

possible with evolution in our hands

with the ability to set genetic

diversity and tailor the forces of

selection we can now explore paths that

nature has left unexplored we can also

explore paths that nature will never

explore we can select life and there

chemistry's to our benefit to create new

sources of energy to fix the carbon in

our atmosphere to cure disease to make

us younger more beautiful or we can make

new weapons of terror or state control

which shall it be the lesson from our

Apple joke

in practice and in theory evolution is

all too easy to apply incorrectly and so

on behalf of all three laureates in

chemistry George Smith sir Gregory

winter and myself who's recombined

messages evolved in tonight's toast I

propose a toast to evolution may we use

it well thank you

[Applause]

[Music]