Context: Recently, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel prize in Chemistry 2024 with one half to David Baker (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA) “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind, London, UK) John M. Jumper Google DeepMind, London, UK “for protein structure prediction”

Key highlights

• David Baker’s Computational Protein Design: Baker was recognized for his pioneering work in computational methods that allow the design of new proteins, enabling the creation of designer proteins for specific applications.

• Demis Hassabis and John Jumper used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures i.e. how proteins fold into the shapes that give them their functions. 

• They created an AI model called AlphaFold2, with which they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins from their amino acid sequence. 

• AlphaFold and Protein Structure Prediction; Hassabis and Jumper, creators of AlphaFold 2, revolutionized protein structure prediction by using AI to predict the structures of millions of proteins, solving a long-standing scientific challenge.

• Advancements in AI for Chemistry: The success of AlphaFold 2 in predicting complex protein structures represents a major step forward in biochemistry, transforming research into drug design, disease understanding, and molecular biology.

• Breakthroughs Recognized Soon After Discovery; Unlike many Nobel Prizes, which often come decades after the original research, this prize comes within just 4-6 years of the AlphaFold 2 development, reflecting its immediate global impact.

• Non-Chemists Honoured for Contributions: The award highlights the interdisciplinary nature of modern chemistry, with significant contributions from fields like artificial intelligence, extending chemistry’s influence into areas like biochemistry.

• Computational protein design

• David Baker took things further by creating entirely new proteins with entirely novel shapes and functions.

• His computer program, Rosetta, can provide suggestions for amino acid sequence to produce a desired protein structure, allowing to create new proteins.  

• Applications of new proteins: Pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors or breaking down plastic.

Implications of the Research

• Impact on Drug Discovery

• Developing targeted therapies for diseases caused by protein disorders.

• Creating enzymes capable of degrading plastics and addressing environmental challenges.

Accelerating Biological Research

• The advancements made by Baker, Hassabis and Jumper enable researchers to better understand biological processes, antibiotic resistance and enzyme functions.

• The tools developed can facilitate rapid experimentation and innovation in various fields, including biotechnology and medicine.

About Proteins

• Proteins are large, complex molecules that control and drive all the chemical reactions that together are the basis of life. 

• A protein is made up of one or more long, folded chains of amino acids (each called a polypeptide), whose sequences are determined by DNA sequence of protein-encoding gene.

• They are required for structure, function and regulation of body’s tissues and organs.

• Proteins also function as hormones, signal substances, antibodies and building blocks of different tissues.