( CNN ) -- Chemists used to use balls and sticks to make models to help them understand how molecules worked . That has vastly changed . On Wednesday , the Nobel Prize in chemistry rewarded three scientists for work leading to the computer programs used today to precisely calculate how very complex molecules work . Accomplishments by chemists Martin Karplus , Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel have enabled programs to even predict the outcomes of very complex chemical reactions . As a result , computers have become just as important in chemistry labs as test tubes , the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said when announcing the prize . Slow motion . The exact mechanics of a chemical reaction are hard to observe in the laboratory . `` Molecules are lazy creatures . Most of the time they do n't do anything , '' said Gunnar Karlstrom from the Royal Academy . `` They just swing around and do n't do anything , and then suddenly , when they react , everything goes quick , like that . '' New computer programs allow scientists to make models of these speedy reactions and study them at a slower pace , he said . The three scientists combined the principles of traditional Newtonian physics , which has the advantage of being simple , with quantum physics , which is much more complex but also much more accurate , because it deals with what goes on at a subatomic level . That has resulted in programs that are simple to use but also highly accurate . Predictions made by the programs eliminate the need for some lab testing . For example , they help reduce the necessity of testing a new drug on animals , Karlstrom said . Karplus researches at Harvard University and at the University of Strasbourg in France . Levitt is based at Stanford University Medical School , and Warshel is based at the University of Southern California . All three were born in other countries . They received the Nobel Prize jointly and will split the prize money of 8 million Swedish kronor ( $ 1.2 million ) . 'God particle ' theorists receive Nobel Prize in physics . Last year . Two American scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2012 for their work revealing protein receptors that tell cells what is going on in and around the human body . Their achievements have allowed drugmakers to develop medication with fewer side effects . Research spanning four decades by Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka on `` G-protein-coupled receptors '' has increased understanding of how cells sense chemicals in the bloodstream and external stimuli such as light , said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , which awarded the prize . This week . Two Americans and a German shared this year 's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday . Americans James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman , and German Thomas C. Sudhof were honored for discoveries of how the body 's cells decide when and where to deliver the molecules they produce . And on Tuesday , two men who predicted the existence of the Higgs boson particle 50 years before its discovery took the prize for physics -- Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of the United Kingdom . Higgs and Englert 's theories of the elusive particle explained what gives matter its mass and played a key role in completing scientists ' understanding of the nature of all matter . Nobel medical prize goes to 2 Americans , 1 German . Nobel history . Since 1901 , the Nobel Committee has handed out the Nobel Prize in chemistry 105 times . In certain years , mainly during World Wars I and II , no prize in chemistry was awarded . The youngest recipient was Frederic Joliot , who won in 1935 at the age of 35 . The oldest chemistry laureate was John B. Fenn , who was 85 when he received the prize in 2002 . Frederic Sanger was the only scientist to win the chemistry prize twice for his work related to the structure of proteins and DNA . There is a fine line between the science of chemistry and the fields of physics and biology . Famed female scientist Marie Curie of France , for example , won Nobel honors for her work in radiophysics in 1903 and again in 1911 for discoveries in radiochemistry . The committee also will announce prizes in literature , peace and economics in the coming days . Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel created the prizes in 1895 to honor work in physics , chemistry , literature and peace . The first economics prize was awarded in 1969 . Follow @ CNNLightYears on Twitter for more science news updates .
The advancements helped help eliminate the need for drug testing on campus . Chemists used to used balls and pins to make models of molecules . Today , computer programs show detailed depictions and predict complex chemical reactions . The fame of the prize winners led to the creation of these programs .