The 2024 Nobel Prize for chemistry was jointly awarded to David Baker for his work on computational protein design and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for developing technologies to predict the structure of proteins.
Importance of Proteins
- Just as bricks are to the construction of a house, proteins are to human bodies. They are essential to almost all biological processes.
- For example, the protein haemoglobin transports oxygen, and insulin helps absorb glucose from the blood. Understanding protein production and function can lead to better insights into human diseases.
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CASP Competition:
- Since recognizing the importance of proteins, many scientists have focused their efforts on understanding them.
- Starting in 1994, scientists competed in the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) to predict protein structures.
- The competition was so challenging that it continued until 2020, when Jumper’s contributions to Hassabis’s work led to a decisive win.
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Also Read: Nobel Prize 2024 Winners List
Work of Jumper and Hassabis
- Chain of Amino Acids: Proteins are built from 20 amino acids, joined into long strings. This string of amino acids twists and folds into a distinct and sometimes unique three-dimensional (3-D) structure. This structure is what gives proteins their function.
- Amino Acids Retaining its Shape: In the 1960s, American scientist, Christian Anfinsen discovered that a protein’s shape is always the same, unfolding and refolding into the same form. He realised that a protein’s structure is determined by its sequence of the 20 amino acids. This structure defines the function performed by it.
- This created an exciting possibility: if scientists know a protein’s amino acid sequence, they should be able to predict the protein’s three-dimensional structure. However, it wasn’t that easy.
- DeepMind and AlphaFold: Demis Hassabis, an AI expert in 2018 entered the CASP. His team built an AI model called AlphaFold, which initially achieved around 60% accuracy in predicting protein structures. Although impressive, this accuracy wasn’t sufficient.
- Jumper’s Entry: The real breakthrough came when John Jumper joined Google DeepMind and continued the research on AlphaFold.
- Both of them trained the AI tool so well that it gained sufficient accuracy in predicting protein structures, given a particular sequence of amino acids.
| Note: Demis Hassabis, an AI expert co-founded DeepMind which created AI models for board games. DeepMind was later sold to Google. |
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Baker Contribution
- CASP Competition Involvement: David Baker made his CASP competition debut in 1998 with his software, Rosetta, which predicts protein structures. While he didn’t win, Rosetta performed impressively against other entries.
- Reversing Rosetta: Baker’s team devised a method to reverse Rosetta. Instead of inputting amino acid sequences to obtain protein structures, they entered a desired protein structure to receive suggestions for corresponding amino acid sequences.
- Understanding Through Analogy: This reversal resembles how an experienced chef can identify dish ingredients by taste.
- Benefit of This Reversal: This innovative approach allows the creation of entirely new proteins, enabling labs to produce various proteins with distinct functions in the body.
Significance of Their Work
Through their work we can better understand life functions, including the development of diseases, antibiotic resistance, and how some microbes decompose plastic.
- Just the ability to create proteins with new functions is extraordinary. This advancement can lead to
- Development of new nanomaterials like clothes that get automatically cleaned,
- Targeted pharmaceuticals i.e. medicines that would only kill disease cells in the body
- Faster vaccine development which would be beneficial if a crisis like Covid-19 ever occurs,
- Development of Minimal sensors that could measure the pollution levels accurately
- Development of a Greener chemical industry that would not harm the environment. All these applications can greatly benefit humanity.
| Antibiotic Resistance: When a bacteria develops defences against the antibiotics designed to kill them. |
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Conclusion
The groundbreaking work of the 2024 Chemistry Nobel laureates has revolutionised our ability to understand and manipulate proteins, paving the way for advancements in medicine, materials science, and environmental sustainability. Their achievements not only deepen our grasp of biological processes but also hold the potential for significant benefits to humanity.
October 10, 2024
