The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to the Americans David Baker and John Jumper, as well as the British Demis Hassabis, for their research on protein structures

The three researchers are rewarded for their work on “computational protein design” and “prediction of the three-dimensional structure of proteins”.

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was assigned, Wednesday October 9, to the American David Baker for his work on “computational protein design”, as well as the British Demis Hassabis and the American John Jumper for their research on “the prediction of the three-dimensional structure of proteins”, explains the press release.

The jury noted that the discoveries of this year’s winners “offer[ai]has enormous potential”. David Baker “achieved the almost impossible feat of building entirely new proteins”explained the jury. “Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can break down plastic”he added. The duo composed of Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, who run Google Deepmind, have for their part “developed an artificial intelligence model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structures of proteins”. Their AI model, Alphafold, can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins based on their amino acid.

The two men, cited among the favorites, had already received the prestigious Lasker Prize in 2023. If the article by Jumper and Hassabis published in 2021 has been cited thousands of times, it is unusual for the Nobel jury to reward such work quickly after its publication.

The prize, which was announced in Stockholm, is the third Nobel of the season after that in physics awarded Tuesday to British-Canadian physicists Geoffrey Hinton and American John Hopfield for crucial research in the development of artificial intelligence.

The season continues with the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in Oslo. The Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded for the first time in 1969, will be awarded on Monday October 14. For the winners of the 2024 vintage, the check accompanying the prize is for 11 million crowns (920,000 euros), to be shared in the event of multiple winners.