Basic tool for making organic molecules wins chemistry Nobel

The 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to one American- and two Japanese-born scientists for devising means for spurring extraordinarily useful and efficient reactions that coax carbon-containing molecules to bond with each other. The reactions are some of the most widely used in chemistry, yielding plastics, better light-emitting diodes for computer screens, and numerous medications, including drugs for fighting cancer, asthma and HIV.