To Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, of DeepMind, and David Baker, leader of the Institute for Protein Design
In short: because the research and development behind this Nobel Prize unlocked not only a new biology but also a new computer science, all of which directly led to advances for humanity on several fronts.
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded for innovative advances in the prediction and design of protein structures using artificial intelligence, reflects the transformative moment that we (scientists at the interface between chemistry and biology) are experiencing. And it is even more notable after another Nobel Prize was awarded, just a day earlier, to those who developed the very foundation of ai.
In essence, the ability to reliably predict protein structures with ai is reshaping both basic and applied biological research. Furthermore, the work of DeepMind and Prof. Baker's Protein Design Institute established pillars for many others, in fact a huge community, to build on. I glimpsed it in my previous summary, but let's dive into this as I connect it to other blog posts where I develop the subtopics more deeply.
