The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about proteins, life’s ingenious chemical tools, writes the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 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, the academy write.

Illustration: A string of amino acids

Applications

Proteins’ amazing versatility as chemical tools is reflected in the vast diversity of life. That we can now so easily visualise the structure of these small molecular machines is mind boggling; it allows us to better understand how life functions, including why some diseases develop, how antibiotic resistance occurs or why some microbes can decompose plastic.

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Ada E Yonath – She cracked the ribosome structure

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists for mapping the ribosome at the atomic level. The pioneering work was performed by the Israeli crystallographer Ada Yonath, who dedicatedly and persistently continued to reveal the large and complex ribosome structure at a time when many believed it was impossible.

The ability to create proteins that are loaded with new functions is just as astounding. This can lead to new nanomaterials, targeted pharmaceuticals, more rapid development of vaccines, minimal sensors and a greener chemical industry – to name just a few applications that are for the greatest benefit of humankind.

The three Laureates

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.

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.