Jean-Pierre Sauvage of France, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart of Scotland and Bernard L. Feringa of the Netherlands were awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday.
The prize, given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was presented "for the design and synthesis of molecular machines."
"They have developed molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added," the academy said in a statement.
Chemistry is the third of this year's Nobel prizes after the medicine and physics laureates were announced on Monday and Tuesday.
The prize is named after dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and has been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with his will.
This is a developing story. More to come...