The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper

From left to right: David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper

The Americans David Baker y John Jumper and the british Demis Hassabis they won on Wednesday Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on predicting the structure of proteins through artificial intelligence.

Baker received half the award “by the computational design of proteins”while Hassabis y Jumper they shared the other half “by predicting protein structure”said the jury.

Baker works in the University of Washingtonin Seattle, while Hassabis y Jumper they do it in Google Deepmindin London.

The work of the three scientists has in common that they have contributed to “cracking the code” of the “incredible structures” of proteinsformed by amino acid molecules.


In 2003, Baker designed a new protein and, since then, his research group has produced a imaginative protein creation after anotherincluding proteins that can be used as drugs, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors, the Nobel committee noted.

Hassabis and Jumper created an artificial intelligence model that has been able to predict the structure of practically all 200 million proteins that researchers have identified, the committee added.

The work of the three laureates has allowed a Work that previously took years can now be done in just a few minutes, explained the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Heiner LinkeChairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, stated that scientists had long dreamed of predicting the three-dimensional structure of proteins.

“Four years ago, in 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper managed to crack the code with skillful use of artificial intelligence. “They made it possible to predict the complex structure of virtually any protein known in nature,” Linke said.

“Another dream of scientists has been to build new proteins to learn to use nature’s multitool for our own purposes. “This is the problem that David Baker solved,” he added. “He developed computational tools that now allow scientists design spectacular new proteins with totally new shapes and functions, opening up endless possibilities for the greater benefit of humanity”.

The Nobel Committee has already chosen the winners in Chemistry for 2024 (@NobelPrize)

Last year, the prize went to three scientists for their work on quantum dots: Tiny particles just a few nanometers in diameter that can emit very bright colored light and whose applications in everyday life include electronics and medical imaging.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is the third in the round of these prestigious awards, after the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced yesterday. Physicalwhich fell on John J. Hopfield y Geoffrey E. Hinton.

On Thursday the literature awardThe award will be announced on Friday Nobel Peace Prize and on Monday, October 14, the economy.

The prize is endowed with 11 million Swedish crowns (1 million dollars) from a legacy left by the creator of the award, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. Laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies to be held on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

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