2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Breakthroughs in Protein Design and Prediction
| Summary/Static | Details |
|---|---|
| Why in the news? | Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 awarded for advancements in protein design and structure prediction. |
| Awarded by | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
| Winners | - David Baker (University of Washington, USA) - Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind, UK) - John M. Jumper (Google DeepMind, UK) |
| Discovery Focus | Proteins - Fundamental chemical tools that sustain life, including hormones, antibodies, and enzymes. |
| David Baker's Contribution | - Pioneered computational protein design in 2003. - Designed new proteins for pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials, and sensors. |
| Demis Hassabis & John M. Jumper's Contribution | - Developed AlphaFold2, an AI model that predicts protein structures from amino acid sequences. - Solved a long-standing problem of predicting protein folding and structure. |
| Breakthrough (2020) | AlphaFold2 predicted the structures of nearly all 200 million known proteins. |
| Impact of AlphaFold2 | - Adopted by over 2 million users globally. - Used in scientific fields like antibiotic resistance and plastic decomposition. |
| Applications | - Development of new drugs and vaccines. - Addressing antibiotic resistance and creating environmentally friendly materials. |
| Benefits | These breakthroughs provide solutions to combat diseases and tackle environmental issues. |