October 9, 2024
1 min read
2024 Chemistry Nobel Awarded for Cracking the Secret Code of Proteins
Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering how to predict the shape of proteins, crucial to understanding their function, and for creating entirely novel proteins that can clean the environment, block viruses, and more
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The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded Wednesday to three scientists for discovering how proteins—the building blocks of life and the dynamos that let cells function—do their jobs. Proteins build muscles and brains, help hearts beat on time, and filter out poisons.
Half of the Nobel went jointly to researchers Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, both of Google DeepMind in London, for developing an AI program—AlphaFold2—that can predict a protein’s shape and structure from its chemical building blocks, called amino acids. Since protein shape determines its function, these predictions are incredibly important.
The other half of the prize went to structural biologist David Baker of the University of Washington, for figuring out ways to design entirely new proteins—molecules never seen in nature. Some of these artificial proteins can serve as miniscule sensors, while others may block the coronavirus that causes COVID. Baker will get 50 percent of the prize money, 11 million Swedish kronor, or nearly $1 million. Hassabil and Jumper will get the other 50 percent.
