Trio of scientists awarded 2024 Nobel in Chemistry for protein design, AI breakthrough

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with one-half going to David Baker for computational protein design and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for protein structure prediction. In a statement released Wednesday, the Academy highlighted that this year's laureate David Baker has successfully designed entirely new kinds of proteins. Meanwhile, laureates Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper have successfully utilized artificial intelligence to predict the structure of nearly all known proteins. The Academy emphasized that the discoveries of this year's laureates have enormous potential, with implications for the development of new nanomaterials, targeted pharmaceuticals, faster vaccine production, minimal sensors, and a greener chemical industry. Baker is affiliated with the University of Washington in Seattle, while Hassabis and Jumper both work at Google DeepMind in London. The Nobel Prize announcements continue with the Literature Pri ze on Thursday. Source: Kuwait News Agency