Three scientists win Nobel Prize in chemistry for work on proteins

Committee praises laureates for revealing proteins’ secrets through computing and artificial intelligence.

Scientists David Baker, John Jumper and Demis Hassabis have won the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on predicting the structure of proteins, the building blocks of life.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday announced half of the prize to Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Hassabis and Jumper “for protein structure prediction”.

Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said scientists had long dreamed of predicting the three-dimensional structure of proteins.

In 2020, Hassabis and Jumper “managed to crack the code with skillful use of artificial intelligence. They made it possible to predict the complex structure of essentially any known protein in nature,” Linke said.

“Another dream of scientists has been to build new proteins to learn how to use nature’s multi-tool for our own purposes. This is the problem that David Baker solved,” he added.

“He developed computational tools that now enable scientists to design spectacular new proteins with entirely novel shapes and functions, opening endless possibilities for the greatest benefit to humankind.”

Baker works at the University of Washington in Seattle, United States, while Hassabis and Jumper both work at Google Deepmind, the tech giant’s artificial intelligence lab, in London.

A screen displays details from the work of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry , which was awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for their work on predicting the structure of proteins [Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP]

The laureates revealed proteins’ secrets through computing and artificial intelligence (AI), the committee said, noting that “chemists have long dreamed of fully understanding and mastering the chemical tools of life – proteins”.

Hassabis and Jumper used their AI model AlphaFold2 to calculate the structure of all human proteins. They “also predicted the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have so far discovered when mapping Earth’s organisms,” the committee said.

Describing the potential of their discoveries as “enormous” and “astounding”, the committee said that it could lead to the more rapid development of vaccines and a greener chemical industry “to name just a few applications that are for the greatest benefit of humankind”.

Last year’s chemistry award went to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Aleksey Ekimov for their discovery of tiny clusters of atoms known as quantum dots, widely used today to create colours in flat screens, light emitting diode (LED) lamps and devices that help surgeons see blood vessels in tumours.

The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1m) from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

First handed out in 1901, 15 years after Nobel’s death, it is awarded for achievements in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.

Johan Aqvist (R), member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, explains the work of the winners [Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP]

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