Wed Oct 09 11:03:17 UTC 2024: ## Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded for Groundbreaking Protein Science Advancements
**Stockholm, Sweden** – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences today announced the recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The prestigious award is split between two teams, recognizing their groundbreaking contributions to protein science.
**David Baker**, from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, was awarded one half of the prize for his pioneering work in **computational protein design**. Baker’s research has led to the creation of entirely new proteins with applications ranging from pharmaceuticals and vaccines to nanomaterials and sensors.
The other half of the prize is shared by **Demis Hassabis** and **John M. Jumper** of Google DeepMind, London, UK, for their development of **AlphaFold2**, a revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) model that can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins. This breakthrough has solved a 50-year-old challenge, allowing scientists to understand the complex shapes of proteins and their intricate functions.
“These discoveries open up vast possibilities,” said Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. “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.”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry acknowledges the transformative potential of these discoveries. By enabling us to design and understand proteins more effectively, these breakthroughs hold the key to addressing critical global challenges like antibiotic resistance and plastic degradation.
The Nobel Prize ceremony will be held in Stockholm on December 10th, where the laureates will receive their awards and deliver their acceptance speeches.
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