The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper. Together, they unraveled a scientific mystery that persisted for over 50 years, leading to the creation of numerous vaccines and medications. Their studies promise to revolutionize future medical treatments.
David Baker, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, emphasizes that life's genesis, be it from a sperm or an egg, hinges on proteins. Baker dedicated his career to proteins, uncovering and engineering unprecedented protein types.
In 2003, with 20 types of amino acids, he crafted new proteins, unlike any existing ones. His team's efforts have led to the creation of proteins utilized in vaccine development, nanomaterials, and micro sensors by pharmaceutical companies.
Source: aajtak
Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind, based in London, constructed an AI model named AlphaFold2 in 2020, solving the 50-year-old mystery of protein structures. With the capability to study structures of 200 million proteins, their model is embraced by over two million users in 190 countries.
Their technological innovation has unveiled countless protein shapes, playing a critical role in biomedical sciences today.
Source: aajtak
