For their work on protein structure, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Americans David Baker, John Jumper and Demis Hassabis and Briton David Baker.

According to the Press Release(New Window), the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday, October 9. American David Baker received the prize for his research into “the computation of proteins”, while Briton Demis Hassabis, and American John Jumper were recognized for their work in “the prediction three-dimensional structures of proteins”.

According to the jury, David Baker has “achieved the nearly impossible feat” of creating entirely new proteins”. He added that researchers could now use the technology to better understand antibiotic resistance, and even create images of enzymes that can break down plastic. Google Deepmind’s Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper , “developed an AI model that solved a fifty-year-old challenge: predicting complex protein structures”. Their AI model Alphafold predicts three-dimensional proteins from their amino acids.

In 2023, the two men who were named as favorites had been given the Lasker Prize. Although Jumper and Hassabis’ paper from 2021 was cited by thousands, it is unusual for the Nobel committee to award work that soon after publication.

This is the third Nobel prize of the year, following on from the award of the physics prizes to British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton, and American John Hopfield, for their research that was crucial in the development of Artificial Intelligence.

In Oslo, the season will continue with the Nobel Prize for Literature and Nobel Peace Prizes on Friday. First awarded in 1969 the Nobel Prize for Economics will be presented on Monday, October 14. The prize money for the 2024 winners is worth 11 million crowns (922,000 euros) and will be divided among multiple winners.

Automate Tasks with ChatGPT and OpenAI