In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to: K.
Barry Sharpless (his second Nobel Prize — he also won in 2001)
Morten Meldal
Carolyn Bertozzi
for their work developing click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.
Sharpless & Meldal pioneered the idea of click chemistry: fast, reliable reactions (like the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition) that “snap together” molecules like LEGO blocks.
Bertozzi extended this into living systems with bioorthogonal chemistry, enabling reactions to occur inside living cells without disrupting normal biology — a breakthrough for imaging, drug delivery, and targeted therapies.
At the heart of the Click Chemistry Dark Factory is a new way of thinking about making things: a programmable, modular, and largely self-directing ecosystem where chemistry, biology, and computation interlock like puzzle pieces. Instead of building one drug, one material, or one process at a time, the factory becomes a living architecture of tiles—each tile representing a reaction, a tool, or a biological function.
These tiles can be rearranged, swapped, and scaled, creating a system that’s endlessly reconfigurable and surprisingly intuitive.
The term “dark factory” points to a future where production hums along without constant human oversight, guided instead by click reactions (fast, reliable chemical ligations), smart surfaces, and robotic or even biological operators.
It’s not just automation—it’s a vision where high-value molecules, materials, and therapies can be produced with precision, minimal waste, and maximal adaptability.
Space and microgravity manufacturing (where chemistry behaves differently).
VR/AR-guided design (so humans can play with the tiles as if they were building a game board).
Ultimately, the big picture is this: a new kind of factory that doesn’t just make products—it makes possibilities.
It’s a platform for discovery, healing, and creation, where science becomes tangible, visual, and remixable, and where progress can scale as easily as adding a new tile to the board.
