of Scripps Research in La Jolla, is an early birthday gift Bertozzi, who turns 56 next Monday.
Bioorthogonal chemistry — a term Bertozzi first used in 2003 — allows researchers to chemically modify molecules in living systems without interfering with normal cell functions. That enables better mapping of molecules and improved drug targeting. Bertozzi received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and did her post-doctoral training at UCSF. She joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1996 and moved to Stanford in 2015.