After the 2024 Noble Prizes in medicine and physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded this Wednesday half to the American David Baker and the other half to the British Demis Hassabis and the American John M. Jumper, for their research on protein structures.
“Almost impossible feat”
David Baker, a 62-year-old biochemist, was recognized “for computational protein design,” while Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper were recognized for their work on “predicting protein structure” via intelligence artificial, according to the jury’s press release.
David Baker “achieved the almost impossible feat of constructing entirely new proteins,” explains the jury. “Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can break down plastic,” he adds.
“Enormous potential”
The duo of Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, who run Google Deepmind, have “developed an artificial intelligence model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structures of proteins.” Their AI model, Alphafold, can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins based on their amino acid. The two men, cited among the favorites, had already received the prestigious Lasker Prize in 2023. The jury noted that the discoveries of this year’s winners “offer enormous potential”.
