Sir Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, along with Dr. John Jumper, a Director at Google DeepMind, were jointly awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This recognition is for their development of AlphaFold, an innovative AI system capable of predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins from their amino acid sequences. David Baker also shared the award for his contributions to computational protein design.
Prior to AlphaFold’s creation, determining a protein’s structure was a challenging and lengthy endeavor.
AlphaFold’s predictions are freely accessible via the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, providing over 2 million scientists and researchers across 190 countries with a valuable tool for new discoveries. The AlphaFold 2 paper, released in 2021, is recognized as one of the most frequently cited publications ever.
The scientific community has widely lauded AlphaFold’s impact, with notable accolades including the 2023 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the 2023 Canada Gairdner International Award, the 2024 Clarivate Citation Laureate award, and the 2024 Keio Medical Science Prize Award.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has consistently demonstrated significant potential in scientific research, with AlphaFold serving as a key proof-of-concept. As more scientists integrate AI into various applications, such as data construction, experiment simulation, drug design, complexity modeling, finding new solutions for existing issues, and expanding current knowledge, fundamental scientific advancements are expected in the coming years.
Following the announcement, Demis Hassabis issued a statement:
Demis Hassabis expressed that receiving the Nobel Prize is the honor of a lifetime. He extended gratitude to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, John Jumper and the AlphaFold team, the broader DeepMind and Google teams, and all his past and present colleagues who contributed to this achievement. He stated that his career has been dedicated to advancing AI due to its immense potential to enhance the lives of billions. AlphaFold has already been utilized by over two million researchers for crucial work, ranging from enzyme design to drug discovery. He hopes AlphaFold will be remembered as the initial demonstration of AI’s significant capacity to accelerate scientific discovery.
Upon learning of his Nobel Prize win, John Jumper released a statement:
John Jumper thanked the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the extraordinary honor. He expressed gratitude for the recognition of their work in fulfilling the long-held promise of computational biology, which aids in understanding the protein world and supports the efforts of experimental biologists. He highlighted that this achievement demonstrates AI’s capacity to accelerate science, ultimately contributing to disease comprehension and therapeutic development. He attributed the award to the exceptional team at Google DeepMind and their remarkable work.
Computational biology has long offered significant potential for generating practical insights applicable in real-world experiments, a promise AlphaFold has fulfilled. A vast array of new insights and scientific discoveries are anticipated, enabled by AI’s role as a scientific tool. He thanked his colleagues for making this moment of recognition possible, alongside the future discoveries.
