David Baker
Facts
Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
David Baker
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024
Born: 1962, Seattle, WA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
Prize motivation: “for computational protein design”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
Proteins control and drive all the chemical reactions that together are the basis of life. Proteins generally consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as life’s building blocks. In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using these blocks to design a new protein that was unlike any other protein. Baker used computer-based methods, which he had developed. This created opportunities to develop an enormous diversity of new proteins. New proteins can be used in, for example, drugs, vaccines and materials and sensors.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
