The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024: They cracked the code for proteins' amazing structures

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about pro­teins, life’s ingenious chemical tools. David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential.

Picture: The Nobel Prize medal. © Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

• Popular information: They have revealed proteins’ secrets through computing and artificial intelligence
• Scientific background: Computational protein design and protein structure prediction

The diversity of life testifies to proteins’ amazing capacity as chemical tools. They control and drive all the chemi­cal reactions that together are the basis of life. Proteins also function as hormones, signal substances, antibodies and the building blocks of different tissues.

“One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences. Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities,” says Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Proteins generally consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as life’s building blocks. In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using these blocks to design a new protein that was unlike any other protein. Since then, his research group has produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

The second discovery concerns the prediction of protein structures. In proteins, amino acids are linked together in long strings that fold up to make a three-dimensional structure, which is decisive for the protein’s function. Since the 1970s, researchers had tried to predict protein structures from amino acid sequences, but this was notoriously difficult. However, four years ago, there was a stunning breakthrough.

In 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper presented an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified. Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic.

Life could not exist without proteins. That we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins confers the greatest benefit to humankind.

David Baker, born 1962 in Seattle, WA, USA. PhD 1989 from University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Professor at University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA.

Demis Hassabis, born 1976 in London, UK. PhD 2009 from University College London, UK. CEO of Google DeepMind, London, UK.

John M. Jumper, born 1985 in Little Rock, AR, USA. PhD 2017 from Uni­versity of Chicago, IL, USA. Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, London, UK.

Further information: www.kva.se and www.nobelprize.org
Press contact: Eva Nevelius, Press Secretary, +46 70 878 67 63,  
Nobel Prize® is a registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation.
10.10.2024/SCS

EuChemS Magazine, September 2024

EuChemS News, Policy News, Events, Awards
 
Find our monthly compilation of science related European policy developments and EuChemS news in this newsletter. Take a look at our headline stories or read the magazine by clicking on the button below.
Read the complete EuChemS Magazine Plus

EuChemS News

• EuChemS opens 2024 calls for award nominations
• Chemical societies comment on Commission’s initiative on sustainable chemicals
• ACS honours EuChemS Division Chair with prestigious award
• Report on EU Agriculture adopts EuChemS recommendations

Policy News

• Key report urges EU to invest much more in Research and Innovation  
• ERC announces Starting Grant recipients 
• ENVI committee discusses chemical residue levels proposal 
• EU report optimistic on union’s energy policy 

Agenda and Events

Read the full magazine on: https://www.magazine.euchems.eu/

David Spichiger, SCS
18.09.2024

Wiley Research Heroes Prize: Call for nominations

Do you know someone who deserves recognition and appreciation?

Is there someone in your department, professional association, or lab who goes above and beyond their usual duties? Who puts in extra time, effort, and commitment to help others? Your research hero could be the person whose passion inspires you to keep investigating or the colleague who volunteers as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion champion in your organization. They could be the person who always finds time to read your manuscript before you submit it to a journal or will give you advice on how to improve your poster.

We’re looking to honor people whose contributions play a role in ensuring research is inclusive and innovative. We want to show appreciation for those who go beyond the normal expectations of their role, helping those around them and contributing to a more inclusive and collaborative research community.

Nominations close on October 15, 2024

Here’s what you need to know:

• Anyone can nominate a colleague or be nominated: Nominees do not need to have previously published with Wiley or be associated with a Wiley journal and can be at any career stage.
• Prizes: Five winners from around the world will receive the equivalent of $2'000 US Dollars in their local currency.
• How to Nominate: It is simple! You need to complete a form sharing a short paragraph on why the nominee deserves recognition. Nominations need to be completed by October 15.

Website: https://m.info.wiley.com/webApp/ResearchHeroesPrize

David Spichiger, SCS
10.09.2024

Winners of the Best Poster Presentation Awards at the SCS Fall Meeting 2024

In collaboration with DSM-Firmenich, SCS offered again the very attractive and prestigious Fall Meeting Best Poster Award program. Combined with the Best Oral Presentation Awards program this is probably the most highly remunerated award program in the field, and we are very proud and happy to cooperate with our sponsoring partners. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to DSM-Firmenich for their generous support and congratulate all winners for their fantastic contributions.

Dr. Jonathan Medlock, Laboratory Head of Process Research, DSM-Firmenich, awarded a total of 22 winners at the end of the SCS Fall Meeting 2024 on September 5, 2024.

Winners of the Best Poster Presentation Awards 2024

Céline Wittwer, SCS
06.09.2024