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Today, the molecules of a Nobel laureate's life.

I feel like I've gone from scarcity to abundance, okay, through science.

That's really the beauty of a scientific endeavor

and dedicating oneself to science.

How Professor Omar Yagi fell in love with chemistry

and how his background as the son of Palestinian refugees

led him down this path.

I'm Malika Bilal and this is the take.

Before we go on with today's show,

remember to leave us a comment telling us what you think about this episode and what you learned about chemistry.

If you're listening on a podcast app, leave us a review, telling us where you're listening from, and give us a five-star rating while you're there.

It really helps the show. Thanks.

I'm Omar Yagi and I'm a professor of chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. Professor Yagi, welcome to the take. And congratulations on becoming a

Nobel laureate in chemistry. It is such an honor to have you here. Thank you very much.

Now, the Nobel Committee awarded this coveted prize to you and two other chemists,

Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robson, for what it called groundbreaking discoveries that

may contribute to solving some of humankind's greatest challenges. At the heart

of these discoveries are molecules, the building blocks of life, everything alive and not alive.

So before we get into the science, I want to start with the building blocks of your life as the

son of Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee in 1948.

Because last month, you stood on one of the biggest stages in the world at the Nobel Prize banquet in Sweden,

...