Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images
Cloud Computing
mercantilism
Crypto
endeavor
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
gadget
back
Government & Policy
Hardware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
seclusion
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
fare
speculation
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
video
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
meet Us
It has been a big workweek for Nobel Prizes in the world of hokey intelligence operation . TheRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciencestodayannouncedthe Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners for 2024 , with DeepMind CEODemis Hassabisand DirectorJohn Jumpersharing one - half of the prize , withDavid Baker — who is pass of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington — secure the other one-half .
The news get along a solar day after AI pioneers Geoff Hinton and John Hopfieldwon the Nobel Prize in Physicsfor their foundational work in machine scholarship and AI .
Hassabis and Jumper won the honor , specifically , for “ protein structure prevision , ” while Baker ’s was for “ computational protein design . ”
Protein fix
protein are the edifice block of life , which is whyDeepMind ’s body of work on AlphaFoldhas been so radical . Though its potentialhad been touted for years , the Google foot soldier exhibit the second variation of the AI framework in 2020 , going much of the way toward solving a problem that had stumped scientists for years by predicting the 3D bodily structure of protein using nothing more than their genetic episode .
The shape of a protein dictates how it works , and figuring out its shape was historically a dull , Labour - intensive procedure that would often require age of research laboratory experiment . With AlphaFold , DeepMind was capable to speed up this to mere hours , coveringmost of the 200 million proteinsin existence . The ramifications of this ca n’t be overstated , as this sort of information is vital to things like drug discovery , name diseases , and bioengineering .
“ One of the discovery being recognise this yr concerns the construction of prominent proteins , ” Heiner Linke , chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry , say in a statement . “ The other is about fulfilling a 50 - yr - old pipe dream : betoken protein structures from their amino group acid sequence . Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities . ”
Baker , for his part , secured his half of the pillage for engineering entirely new kinds of proteins , designed computationally to do specific functions within pharmaceutical , vaccines , and so on .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Born in London in 1976 , Hassabis emerged as a prognostication in a number of disciplines from a vernal age , reachingmaster statusat chess by the time he was a adolescent . He was also lead computer programmer at U.K. picture plot developerBullfrog Productions , and he graduated from the University of Cambridge with first - class honor in Computer Science before kick the bucket on to found DeepMind alongsideShane LeggandMustafa Suleyman , whoMicrosoft lease from AI startup Inflection AI earlier this yr .
Googleacquired DeepMind in 2014for more than $ 500 million , with Jumper joining as inquiry scientist three eld later . It ’s also deserving noting here that Hassabiswas awardeda U.K. knighthood for ‘ services to artificial intelligence ’ back in March .
In addition to the global prestige of winning such an award , the Nobel Prize in Chemistry comes with a immediate payment award of 11 million Swedish kronor ( $ 1 million ) , with half of that going to David Baker and the other split up between Hassabis and Jumper .
