The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for two different successful studies, but protein is the common thread.
One half was given to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John M Jumper “for predicting protein structure.”
Hassabis and Jumper have successfully used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the structure of almost all known proteins. David Baker has learned to master the building blocks of life and create entirely new proteins.
The use of AI successfully solves a problem that chemists have struggled with for more than fifty years: predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein based on a sequence of amino acids.
Meanwhile, Baker’s research shows that the ability to create proteins packed with new functions is just as amazing. This could lead to new nanomaterials and targeted drugs.
It can also help in faster vaccine development, minimal sensors and a greener chemical industry. In recent years, one incredible protein creation after another has emerged from Baker’s lab.
Hassabis and Jumper used their AI model AlphaFold2 to calculate the structure of all human proteins. They also predicted the structure of almost all of the 200 million proteins known to researchers so far.
Google DeepMind has also made the code for AlphaFold2 public so that anyone can access it. The AI model has become a gold mine for researchers.