On Oct. 9, David Baker, a computational biologist and professor at the University of Washington (UW), was announced as a 2024 Nobel Prize laureate for his accomplishments in computational protein design. His discoveries have paved the way for further advances in neutralizing viruses, acting as catalysts in chemical reactions, and paramount among them, targeting cancer cells.
Baker, along with two other scientists, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, have been credited for their revolutionary achievements in understanding and manipulating protein structure. UW Medicine noted that proteins are biological workhouses, “essential for countless cellular functions. Baker and his colleagues have for decades used computing power to learn how long chains of chemicals called amino acids fold into protein structures. The resulting 3-D shapes of protein molecules determines how they function in living systems and is important for understanding biology and developing new medicines.” Baker’s breakthroughs date back as far as 2003, when he successfully used amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—to compose an unprecedented protein, paving the way for his triumphs over two decades later.
The scientists used an AI model called AlphaFold—a program developed by Hassabis’s Google DeepMind—to predict the configuration of amino acids in a protein. From The New York Times, “‘A.I. is changing the way we do science,’ said Frances Arnold, a chemical engineering professor at the California Institute of Technology who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. ‘It is supercharging our ability to explore previously intractable problems.’” AI’s role in these experiments significantly accelerates results, as the task to understand how proteins work once took months, or even years. With AI models like AlphaFold, results can be visible and collected within minutes. As AI leads to notable discoveries in all fields, people must accept the presence of the influential tool at hand.
In the past, Baker has been listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People in health by TIME, and STAT News added him to their list of 50 influential leaders and changemakers in the life sciences in 2024. Throughout his career, he has published over 640 research papers, co-founded 21 biotech focused companies, and currently has over 100 patents to his name.
