Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 honors research on proteins

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists, David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper, for their research on proteins, the unique chemical tools of life.

Nobel Prize: Three scientists win 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has just announced the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: David Baker, 62 years old, Professor at the University of Washington, USA; Demis Hassabis, 48 ​​years old, currently CEO of Google DeepMind in the UK and John Jumper, 39 years old, currently a senior research scientist at Google DeepMind, UK.

Three scientists were honored for their contributions to the study of proteins, the unique chemical tools of life.

According to Heiner Linke, Chairman of the Nobel Assembly for Chemistry, "One of the discoveries recognized this year concerns the construction of unique proteins. The other fulfills a 50-year-old dream of predicting protein structure from amino acid sequences. Both discoveries open up enormous potential."

Professor David Baker has succeeded in building completely new proteins, a feat that seems almost impossible. Scientists Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that solves a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structure of proteins.

Proteins are typically made up of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as the building blocks of life. In 2003, David Baker successfully used these building blocks to design a new protein unlike any other. Since then, his research team has continued to create innovative proteins, including proteins that can be used as drugs, vaccines, nanomaterials, and tiny sensors.

The second discovery involved predicting protein structure. In proteins, amino acids are linked together in long chains that fold together to form a three-dimensional structure that is crucial to the protein’s function. Since the 1970s, researchers have been trying to predict protein structure from amino acid sequences, but this has been extremely difficult. Four years ago, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper introduced an artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold2. With the help of this model, they were able to predict the structure of all 200 million proteins that researchers have identified.

Since that breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people in 190 countries. Among its many scientific applications, researchers have been able to better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can break down plastic.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists, Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov, for their research on quantum dots, the smallest components of nanotechnology, used to transmit light from TVs and LEDs, illuminating cancerous tissue for surgeons.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nobel-hoa-hoc-2024-vinh-danh-nghien-cuu-ve-protein-post762855.html