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 at 11:45 a.m. on October 9 local time (4:45 p.m. on October 9 Hanoi time).

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 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, CEO of Google DeepMind in the UK and John Jumper , 39 years old, senior researcher at Google DeepMind, UK.

Three scientists David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (Photo: Nobel Prize).

They were honored for their work on proteins, the unique chemical tools of life. David Baker succeeded in building completely new proteins, a feat that was almost impossible. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that solved a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structure of proteins. These discoveries have enormous potential.

The diversity of life demonstrates the remarkable ability of proteins as chemical tools. They direct and drive all the chemical reactions that form the basis of life. Proteins also serve as hormones, signaling compounds, antibodies, and building blocks of various tissues.

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

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 that was 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 into three-dimensional structures that are 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, a surprising breakthrough occurred.

Demis Hassabis and John Jumper then introduced an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they were able to predict the structures of all 200 million proteins that researchers had 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 an enzyme that can break down plastic.

Life cannot exist without proteins. Being able to predict protein structure and design proteins will be of the greatest benefit to humanity.

This year's prize is worth 11 million Swedish krona (about $1,060,800), with half going to David Baker and the other half to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper.

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 into quantum dots, the smallest components of nanotechnology, which can be used to transmit light from TVs and LEDs, illuminating cancerous tissue for surgeons.

The Nobel Prize is an international award established by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm in 1901 based on the estate of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and businessman.

The prize is awarded annually to individuals and organizations with outstanding contributions in the fields of Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Literature, and Peace. In 1968, the Swedish Central Bank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Nobel, also known as the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Each award consists of a medal, a personal certificate and a variable prize money. From 1901 to 2023, the prize has been awarded 622 times to 1002 individuals and organizations around the world.