US scientists David Baker, John Jumper, and British scientist Demis Hassabis have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking work in decoding protein structures and designing new proteins, which has significant implications for drug development, Reuters reports.
Baker’s research focused on creating new proteins to solve issues like climate change and disease. He made significant strides in protein design in 2003, using amino acids to create unique proteins for various applications, including pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
Hassabis and Jumper, who work at Google DeepMind, developed an AI model called AlphaFold2 that can predict the structure of nearly all known proteins, enabling researchers to tackle issues such as antibiotic resistance. This recognition marks the growing importance of AI in scientific research.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded half the prize, valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1.1 million), to Baker for his contributions to “computational protein design,” while Hassabis and Jumper shared the other half for their work in “protein structure prediction” using artificial intelligence.
