The BBVA Foundation awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine in this fifteenth edition to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper “for their contributions to the use of artificial intelligence for the accurate prediction of the three-dimensional structure of proteins.” In the words of the committee, the winners achieved an advance with huge biomedical potential for the development of new treatments against multiple conditions.
Baker – a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Washington and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator – developed the RoseTTAFold program, while Hassabis and Jumper – CEO and senior research scientist respectively at AI company DeepMind – are the creators of AlphaFold2. “Both computing methods,” the committee explains, “rely on a sophisticated machine-learning technique known as deep learning to predict the shape of proteins with unprecedented accuracy, similar to that of experimentally-determined structures, and with exceptional speed.”
“This breakthrough,” it concludes, “is revolutionizing our understanding of how the amino acid sequence of proteins leads to uniquely ordered three-dimensional structures. Scientists are now using these new methods to predict protein conformations, design entirely new proteins and identify novel drug targets.”
Interview with David Baker, winner of the 15th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine
From El Mundo:
Vaccines against the coronavirus or malaria, drugs against cancer without side effects… With artificial intelligence as an ally, the biochemist from the University of Washington, winner of the Fronteras FBBVA award, develops proteins on demand to create solutions to medical and environmental problems
This biochemist’s laboratory at the University of Washington has developed a vaccine against covid-19 and is working on a nasal spray that blocks respiratory viruses. In addition, he is working on cancer immunotherapy and catalysis for the breakdown of toxic molecules in the environment, among other applications. All of them are based on synthetic proteins created using deep learning artificial intelligence.
