Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for work with proteins
While Baker has designed an entirely new kind of proteins, Top7, "that was unlike any other protein," Hassabis and Jumper have developed an AI model called AlphaFold2, which enabled them to predict the structure of over 200 million proteins identified in other living organisms
STOCKHOLM, October 9. /TASS/. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 was awarded to American biochemist David Baker and researchers John Jumper and Demis Hassabis who work in London for protein structure findings, the Nobel Committee at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced.
The prize was awarded "for computational protein design" and "for protein structure prediction," the committee specified.
While Baker has designed an entirely new kind of proteins, Top7, "that was unlike any other protein," Hassabis and Jumper have developed an AI model called AlphaFold2, which enabled them to predict the structure of over 200 million proteins identified in other living organisms. Since their breakthrough, the committee said, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people in 190 countries.
Among other scientific applications, these discoveries can help researchers "better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic," the committee said in a press release.