Nobel Prize Chemistry/ protein prediction/ protein design/ Demis Hassabis/ David Baker/ John Jumper/ Nobel laureates 2024/ Newslooks/ STOCKHOLM/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper for their pioneering advancements in predicting and designing protein structures. Their work, combining computational and AI methods, has opened possibilities in medicine, materials science, and biotechnology.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors Protein Design Innovators – Quick Looks
- Awarded Researchers: David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper recognized.
- Breakthrough Impact: Innovations predict and design proteins for applications in medicine, nanotech, and biotech.
- Committee Praise: Protein structure research described as solving a “grand challenge” in chemistry.
- Prize Ceremony: Laureates will receive awards on December 10 in Stockholm.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors Breakthrough Protein Research
Deep Look
In a groundbreaking recognition of innovation at the crossroads of artificial intelligence and biochemistry, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper. The trio received the prestigious honor for their revolutionary work in predicting and designing protein structures, advancing a field that plays a central role in biochemistry and opens up transformative possibilities in medicine, nanotechnology, and biotechnology.
Heiner Linke, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry Chair, emphasized that this award acknowledges breakthroughs that bridge the amino acid sequence and protein structure, a challenge researchers have pursued for decades. “This was a grand challenge in chemistry,” Linke stated. The laureates’ success in addressing this issue has been described as a historic moment for biochemistry.
David Baker, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, has made substantial contributions to protein design. Since creating his first artificial protein in 2003, Baker and his team have developed a series of inventive proteins that have applications in pharmaceutical development, vaccine design, and even nanomaterials and sensors. “The variety and number of designs his team has created are truly astonishing,” noted Professor Johan Åqvist of the Nobel committee.
Baker’s pioneering work builds on years of computational research and development, producing tools that enable scientists to design proteins with novel structures and functions. These proteins serve as vital tools in understanding and manipulating the complex mechanisms underlying biological systems.
Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, both from Google DeepMind in London, have led equally influential work in using artificial intelligence to solve the “protein folding” puzzle—a long-sought goal in molecular biology. Their AI model, AlphaFold, launched in 2020, has successfully predicted the structures of nearly all 200 million known proteins cataloged by researchers. This achievement represents a significant leap forward for biological research, enabling scientists to determine protein structures much faster than traditional laboratory methods could ever achieve.
The Nobel committee highlighted that scientists have long dreamt of predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins, as this structure determines how proteins function within living systems. “With skillful use of artificial intelligence, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper made it possible to predict the complex structure of virtually any protein found in nature,” said Linke, who commended their achievement as a turning point in the scientific understanding of proteins.
These advancements in protein research are already proving to be foundational in designing new drugs, developing personalized medicine, and creating materials at the molecular level. The work of these three scientists exemplifies how artificial intelligence and computational tools can be harnessed to solve longstanding biological challenges, providing new pathways to address complex health and environmental issues.
The Nobel awards week has seen other landmark recognitions in scientific fields. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, pioneers of machine learning. Meanwhile, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who discovered critical molecular mechanisms regulating gene expression, won the medicine prize. The awards will continue with literature and peace prizes on Thursday and Friday, with the economics award concluding the announcements on October 14.
All Nobel laureates are invited to Stockholm for a formal award ceremony on December 10, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. Along with a gold medal, each prize carries an 11-million-kronor (about $1 million) award from Nobel’s endowment. This year’s laureates are celebrated not only for their individual discoveries but for contributions that are already reshaping scientific research and practical applications in medicine, technology, and beyond.
