Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, John Jumper for protein research

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was on Wednesday (October 9) awarded to three scientists for their exceptional work in the field of protein research. David Baker received half of the prestigious prize for his advances in "computational protein design," while the other half was jointly awarded to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their revolutionary work in "protein structure prediction."

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which announced the award, praised the laureates for unlocking the secrets of proteins using computational methods and artificial intelligence (AI). "Chemists have long aspired to fully understand and control the chemical tools of life – proteins. This dream is now closer to reality," the Academy's official statement read.

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Hassabis and Jumper, both of Google DeepMind, were lauded for their development of AlphaFold2, an AI model capable of predicting the structure of almost all known proteins. Since its breakthrough in 2020, AlphaFold2 has been used by over two million researchers from 190 countries, offering unprecedented insights into everything from antibiotic resistance to plastic-decomposing enzymes.

Baker, a protein design specialist, was celebrated for his team's ability to build entirely new kinds of proteins from scratch. These innovative protein designs have vast applications in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials, and biosensors.

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This year's award follows Monday's Nobel Prize in Medicine, given to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, and Tuesday's Physics prize, awarded to machine learning pioneers John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton. The Chemistry Nobel Prize comes with a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1 million), part of a bequest from the prize's founder, Alfred Nobel.

• Artificial Intelligence
• David Baker
• Demis Hassabis
• John Jumper
• Nobel Prize
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Protein
• Protein research
• Swedish kronor