Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, and John Jumper, Director at Google DeepMind, have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence (AI) system that predicts the 3D structures of proteins based on their amino acid sequences. David Baker, recognized for his contributions to computational protein design, shared the prize with them.
AlphaFold has significantly transformed protein structure prediction, a previously time-consuming and complex task. Its predictions, freely accessible through the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, have provided valuable insights to over two million researchers across 190 countries, aiding advancements in various scientific fields. Since its 2021 publication, the AlphaFold 2 paper has become one of the most frequently cited scientific works. The system has also garnered several prestigious awards, including the 2023 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
In a statement following the announcement, Hassabis expressed his gratitude, stating that receiving the Nobel Prize was “the honour of a lifetime” and highlighted AlphaFold’s widespread use in critical research areas like drug discovery and enzyme design. Jumper, in his response, emphasized AlphaFold’s fulfillment of the long-held promise of computational biology and noted AI’s growing role in advancing scientific discovery. Both scientists credited their teams and colleagues at Google DeepMind for making these breakthroughs possible.
David Baker, Demis Hassabis, John M. Jumper
Illustration: Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
Photo: Copyright © Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2016. Photo: Pi Frisk.
