John AdoyiThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden has awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to David Baker, a professor at the University of Washington, and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper.
While Baker was recognised for his “computational protein design” Hassabis and Jumper were jointly honoured for their “protein structure prediction” work.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelTheir groundbreaking contributions to science have revolutionised the understanding of proteins and unlocking potential medical and industrial applications.
At a press conference of the announcement on Wednesday, Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, emphasized the significance of their work. “Building new proteins has been a dream of scientists,” he said, adding “This is the problem that David Baker solved.”
Baker was honored for developing computational tools, particularly the Rosetta software, which allows scientists to design new proteins not found in nature. His pioneering work offers new opportunities in drug discovery, vaccines, nanomaterials, and sensors, revolutionizing treatments for diseases and advancing biotechnology. The Nobel Committee hailed his innovations as opening “endless possibilities for the greatest benefit to humankind.”
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Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper were celebrated for their contributions to protein structure prediction through AlphaFold, an AI system created at Google DeepMind. AlphaFold has been instrumental in predicting the 3D structures of nearly all proteins with remarkable accuracy, a long-standing challenge in molecular biology. Since its release, AlphaFold has been used by more than two million researchers across 190 countries, helping scientists understand antibiotic resistance and even create enzymes capable of decomposing plastic.
Hassabis is a British computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher.
“I’m really excited about all the ways in which protein design makes the world a better place in health, medicine and, really, outside technology,” Baker told reporters during the announcement.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded 116 times to 197 laureates between 1901 and 2024. Last year’s award went to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Aleksey Ekimov for their work on quantum dots, now widely used in flat screens and medical technology.
This year’s prize includes a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (around $1 million). Baker will receive half, while Hassabis and Jumper will split the remaining half.
The laureates will be presented with their medals and diplomas on December 10. The Nobel Prize in Literature is set to be announced on October 10.
