The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honors research on proteins.

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists , David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper, for their research on proteins, the unique chemical tools of life.

Nobel Priza: Three scientists who will win the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has just announced the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: David Baker, 62, Professor at the University of Washington, USA; Demis Hassabis, 48, currently CEO of Google DeepMind in the UK; and John Jumper, 39, currently a senior research scientist at Google DeepMind in the UK.

Three scientists were honored for their contributions to the study of proteins, the unique chemical tools of life.

According to Heiner Linke, Chairman of the Nobel Chemistry Committee, "one of the discoveries recognized this year relates to the construction of unique proteins. The other discovery fulfills a dream from 50 years ago of predicting protein structure from amino acid sequences. Both discoveries open up enormous potential."

Professor David Baker achieved success in building entirely new types of proteins, a nearly impossible feat. Scientists Demis Hassabis and John Jumper developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that helps solve a problem that has existed for 50 years: predicting the complex structure of proteins.

Proteins typically consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as the building blocks of life. In 2003, David Baker successfully used these blocks to design a new protein unlike any other. Since then, his research team has continuously created innovative proteins, including those that could be used in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials, and microsensors.

The second discovery relates to predicting protein structure. In proteins, amino acids link together in long chains that stack up to form a three-dimensional structure, which is crucial to the protein's function. Since the 1970s, researchers have tried to predict protein structure from amino acid sequences, but this has been extremely difficult. Four years ago, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper introduced an artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold2. With the help of this model, they were able to predict the structure of all 200 million proteins that researchers had identified.

Since that breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. Among its wide range of scientific applications, researchers have been able to better understand antibiotic resistance and create enzymes that can break down plastics.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists, Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov, for their research on quantum dots, the smallest components of nanotechnology, which are used to transmit light from TVs and LEDs, and to illuminate cancerous tissue for surgeons.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nobel-hoa-hoc-2024-vinh-danh-nghien-cuu-ve-protein-post762855.html