GENEVA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Swiss scientist Jacques Dubochet from the University of Lausanne, one of the trio who were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday, said what he achieved was a combined effort.

The three scientists were awarded for developing a technique to produce images of the molecules of life frozen in time.

Dubochet, a professor for two decades at the University of Lausanne, told the Swiss national broadcaster Swissinfo that "At a moment like this, the feeling that prevails is one of great gratitude."

"But a scientific prize is an ambiguous thing. It puts forward an individual, whereas it should be putting forward a collective effort. I am not all alone," said the Nobel laureate.

He cited researchers, from the University of Bern to Caltech in California, on whose "shoulders" his discoveries were based.

The Swiss scientist said his family was also important to him in the support of his work.

He is the eighth Swiss national to win a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Dubochet, German-born Joachim Frank from Columbia University in New York, and British scientist Richard Henderson from Cambridge University, shared the prize for chemistry in 2017.

Announcing the winners, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the three scientists helped develop a microscope imaging technique to get detailed images of life's complex machinery in atomic resolution.

Their research is "decisive for both the basic understanding of life's chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals," according to the academy, which said "This technology has taken biochemistry into a new era."