A Nobel Win That Rekindles the Arab World’s Scientific Legacy

A Jordanian-born chemist’s Nobel victory reconnects the modern Middle East with its long tradition of discovery. His story is a reminder that curiosity still runs deep in the region’s DNA.

On Wednesday, October 8th, the Nobel committee announced its decision to award this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists from the United States, Japan, and Australia. These pioneers of science dedicated their lives to the advancement of a new field of study, and one scientist stands out among them. Omar M. Yaghi, a Jordanian-born, Palestinian-descended chemist, won the most prestigious award in science alongside Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa.

For many, it wasn’t just a victory for one man or one country. It was a sign that the spirit of inquiry, once a defining force in the Middle East, can thrive again.

Yaghi grew up in Amman in the 1960s in a refugee family that fled Gaza after 1948. The young boy who once lived in a cramped apartment with his family was encouraged by his father to move to the United States in pursuit of a better future.

After moving to the U.S. as a teenager knowing English, he studied at a community college, earned his Ph.D. in Illinois, and eventually became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he pioneered a field called reticular chemistry, the art of designing molecular frameworks from metal and organic components.

To understand metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and the significance of the field, we can look at an example of a sponge. A sponge contains many empty pockets of air distributed unevenly, giving it the ability to soak up water when brought into contact with it. These holes, however, are not uniform, nor are they separated evenly. An MOF is a molecular porous polymer structure made of organic chains linked with metallic bonds. These metal-organic structures are highly programmable and can be made into one, two, or three-dimensional compositions to accommodate particles of choice within their hollow structure. Consider them as a sponge, but uniform, programmable, and evenly distributed.

These MOFs look like invisible scaffolds at the nanoscale. They can trap gases, capture carbon dioxide, and even harvest water from desert air. They can separate or store different molecules and atoms at the nanoscale level, which has significant benefits across industries. Overall, teams at universities around the world are only beginning to explore the full potential of MOFs and their practical uses in engineering, medicine, and society.

The capacity that can be programmed in a metal-organic framework is entirely at the scientist’s discretion. It can be used to trap water from the air, for example, suitable for arid climates. It can be programmed to filter toxic molecules or gases from a system, vital in industries where poisonous gases are handled. Applications in the aerospace and defence sector, as well as astronautics, are being studied all around the world.

It’s not lost on many that Yaghi’s discovery tells a much older story. A thousand years ago, scholars like Jabir ibn Hayyan, Al-Razi, and Al-Khāzini in Baghdad, Damascus, and Samarqand laid the foundations of modern chemistry and physics. They studied how matter transforms, how air and water interact, and how to measure density and equilibrium, concepts that today’s scientists use to explain how Yaghi’s MOFs work.

Back then, science was not just about discovery. It was a moral and spiritual pursuit, an act of understanding the harmony of creation, encouraged by the leaders of the Arab world. The House of Wisdom thrived as a library and scholarly center of knowledge during the Middle Ages. Books from across the Islamic Empire were brought in to be translated and stored for the dozens of clerics and scholars to read and interpret. Yaghi’s achievement is a testament to the work of the giants of the field who came before him.

This win tells a story of intellect, courage, and persistence, and challenges the myth that the Arab world’s age of scientific discovery is over. It shows that a student from a modest neighborhood in Amman can become one of the world’s leading chemists and achieve the highest honor within the scientific community.

As of today, only 15 Nobel laureates have been Muslim out of 1,022, and even then, only 5 of them are in the field of science. With the region in a constant state of turmoil since the middle of the 20th century, the Middle East saw little to moderate investments in science and the pursuit of knowledge. However, things are starting to change. There are now around 230 research universities in the MENA region, with some even making the top 100 global ranking, such as the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia. Other notable mentions include Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and King Saud University, alongside Qatar’s Qatar University, and the United Arab Emirates’ Khalifa University.

Together, these universities are slowly changing the landscape of the Middle East from nations relying on the wisdom of the West to once again becoming notable contributors to the global pool of knowledge. Yaghi’s achievement can serve as an exemplary milestone for many in the region who are ready to become part of the international institutions of learning and research.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II called Yaghi’s Nobel “a source of national pride.” Scientists across the region hope it will inspire a new generation of young Arabs who see in his story a reflection of their own potential.

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