Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to scientists for work on proteins
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for their work with proteins, the building blocks of life.
Baker works at the University of Washington in Seattle, while Hassabis and Jumper both work at Google Deepmind in London.
Baker designed a new protein in 2003 and his research group has since produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors, the Nobel committee said.
Hassabis and Jumper created an artificial intelligence model that has been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified, the committee added.
Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said scientists had long dreamt 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 essentially any known protein in nature,” Linke said.
“Another dream of scientists has been to build new proteins to learn how to use nature’s multi-tool for our own purposes. This is the problem that David Baker solved,” he added. “He developed computational tools that now enable scientists to design spectacular new proteins with entirely novel shapes and functions, opening endless possibilities for the greatest benefit to humankind.”
Last year, the chemistry award went to three scientists for their work on quantum dots — tiny particles just a few nanometers in diameter that can release very bright colored light and whose applications in everyday life include electronics and medical imaging.
Six days of Nobel announcements opened Monday with Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the medicine prize. Two founding fathers of machine learning — John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton — won the physics prize.
The awards continue with the literature prize on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the economics award on Oct. 14.
The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.
Tune in to a mini-concert with esperanza spalding and Milton Nascimento
The pair perform songs from their collaborative jazz album, Milton + esperanza.
Only 2% of charitable giving goes to women. Can Melinda French Gates change that?
The philanthropist is spending $1 billion — and leveraging her ever-growing celebrity — to call more attention to the systemic problems facing women and girls. Now she's focusing even more on women's health.
They came to Asheville looking for a ‘climate haven.’ Then came Hurricane Helene
When Mary Ann Roser and her husband moved to Asheville four months ago they introduced themselves to neighbors as “climate refugees from Austin.” After Helene, she has thoughts on “climate havens."
Evacuation windows narrow as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida
The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm surge can get as high as 15 feet in some places, and rainfall totals could reach 18 inches.
Many people in jail have the right to vote. So do many felons
People who are in jail and haven't been convicted of a crime — and even many who have been convicted — retain their right to vote. But it's often challenging for them to exercise it.
True crime drama at Supreme Court pits Oklahoma against its top criminal court
Richard Glossip has had nine execution dates set over the years. He's eaten his last meal three times. He was tried twice and has had multiple appeals, including one at the Supreme Court.
