2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

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nobelprize.org·nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/

Relevant to AI safety discussions around AI capabilities acceleration: AlphaFold exemplifies how AI can rapidly compress scientific progress, raising questions about the pace of AI-driven breakthroughs and governance of powerful AI tools in science.

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Importance: 62/100press releasenews

Summary

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to David Baker for computational protein design, and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for their development of AlphaFold, an AI system that predicts protein 3D structures. AlphaFold solved a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology, enabling rapid advances in drug discovery, vaccine development, and biological research. This award marks a landmark recognition of AI's transformative impact on scientific discovery.

Key Points

•Half the prize went to David Baker for computational design of entirely new proteins not found in nature.
•Demis Hassabis and John Jumper (DeepMind) received the other half for AlphaFold2, which predicts protein structures with atomic accuracy.
•AlphaFold has predicted structures for virtually all ~200 million known proteins, freely shared via a public database.
•The prize signals mainstream scientific recognition of deep learning as a foundational tool for solving complex real-world problems.
•Represents a milestone for AI capabilities applied to science, with implications for how AI may accelerate research across disciplines.

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Navigate to: Summary\- David Baker\- Demis Hassabis\- John Jumper Prize announcement Press release Popular information Advanced information Award ceremony video Award ceremony speech

[![Photo of David Baker](<Base64-Image-Removed>)](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/baker/facts/)

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

### [David Baker](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/baker/facts/ "Title text")

Prize share: 1/2

[![Photo of Demis Hassabis](<Base64-Image-Removed>)](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/hassabis/facts/)

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

### [Demis Hassabis](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/hassabis/facts/ "Title text")

Prize share: 1/4

[![Photo of John Jumper](<Base64-Image-Removed>)](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/jumper/facts/)

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

### [John Jumper](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/jumper/facts/ "Title text")

Prize share: 1/4

> The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 was divided, one half awarded to David Baker "for computational protein design", the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper "for protein structure prediction"

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Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 14 laureates' work and discoveries range from quantum tunnelling to promoting democratic rights.

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