How does DNA, the delicate blueprint of life, keep from falling apart despite repeated assaults? On Wednesday, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists who unraveled some of the secrets.

Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar were awarded the prize for having discovered how cells repair their DNA and protect it from waves of punishment that the body and the environment dish out more or less continuously.

The three pioneers “have explained the basic mechanisms that help to guard the integrity of our genomes,” Claes Gustafsson, chairman of the Nobel chemistry committee, told reporters in Stockholm.

Image Aziz Sancar Credit... Christine T. Nguyen/The Herald-Sun, via Associated Press

Dr. Lindahl, 77, of the Francis Crick Institute and Clare Hall Laboratory, near London, was honored for discovering how cells generally fix DNA damage. Dr. Modrich, 69, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine, was recognized for showing how cells correct mistakes in DNA replication during cell division. Dr. Sancar, also 69, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was cited for mapping how cells repair DNA damage from ultraviolet light.