Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards AI revolution in protein research

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to David Baker for computational protein design and to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for protein structure prediction.

According to the Nobel Committee, David Baker “accomplished the almost impossible feat of building entirely new types of proteins.” And Demis Hassabis and John Jumper “developed an artificial intelligence model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structures of proteins.” These are breakthroughs, the committee says, "that have enormous potential."

David Baker is a professor at the University of Washington, Demis Hassabis co-founded the artificial intelligence research company that became Google DeepMind, and John M. Jumper is a senior research scientist at Google DeepMind in London.

Basic components of life

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry focused on proteins, the building blocks of life. These compounds are found in every cell of the human body and control and direct all the chemical reactions that together form the basis of our existence. The Nobel Committee describes them as “the ingenious chemical tools of life.” A better understanding of these tools will help us to understand the chemical reactions that are the key to our existence. has driven great advances in medicine. What the three winners managed to do was crack the code behind their astonishing structures.

One of the discoveries being awarded this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. The other concerns the realization of a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences. Both discoveries open up enormous possibilities.

Heiner Linke, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry

In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using protein structures to design a new protein that was unlike any existing one. Since then, his research group has been developing a new protein. has produced one new protein after another, including proteins that can be used as drugs, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

Artificial intelligence

The second discovery concerns to the prediction of protein structure. In proteins, amino acids (the molecules that are the building blocks of proteins) are linked together in long chains that fold together to form a three-dimensional structure, which is crucial for the protein's function. Since the 1970s, researchers had tried to predict protein structure from amino acid sequences, but this was notoriously difficult. However, four years ago, a surprising breakthrough came.

In 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper introduced an artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold2. With it, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all of the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified. Since its discovery, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people in 190 countries.

Among a host of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and creating images of enzymes that can break down plastic. “Life could not exist without proteins,” the Nobel Committee notes. “The fact that we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins is a testament to our scientific understanding of the world’s evolutionary potential. It is a great benefit to humanity.”

On the “shoulders of giants”

Shortly after the announcement, US-based Professor David Baker told the committee he was “very excited and very honoured”. "I stood on the shoulders of giants," he said when asked how he cracked the code for creating proteins. He said he was sleeping when the phone rang and when the announcement was made, his wife "started screaming really loud" in excitement.

The winners will share a cash prize worth 11 million Swedish krona (US$1.061.139). Professor Baker will receive half of the prize, and the other half will go to Hassabis and Jumper.

Source: with the BBC

Image: The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners (Nobel Prizes)