AI-Driven Protein Science
Demis Hassabis, John M. Jumper & David Baker
About This Prize
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper “for protein structure prediction” and to David Baker “for computational protein design.” Hassabis and Jumper developed AlphaFold2, an AI system that solved the 50-year-old protein folding problem by predicting 3D structures of proteins from amino acid sequences with atomic accuracy. Baker pioneered computational methods for designing entirely new proteins not found in nature, creating novel enzymes, nanomaterials, and therapeutic proteins. Together, their work represents a revolution in structural biology and molecular engineering.
Demis Hassabis
“Accelerating Scientific Discovery with AI”
John M. Jumper
“Building Chemical and Biological Intuition into Protein Structure Prediction”
David Baker
“De Novo Protein Design”
Key Concepts
- • AlphaFold2: Deep learning system using attention-based architecture (Evoformer) to predict protein structures with GDT > 90
- • Protein Folding Problem: Predicting 3D structure from amino acid sequence — a grand challenge since Anfinsen's 1972 Nobel Prize
- • Rosetta: Baker's computational framework for protein structure prediction and design, enabling de novo protein engineering
- • De Novo Design: Creating proteins with novel folds, functions, and binding properties not found in the natural proteome