• Lazarovits and Ueda receive WRF translational funding

    Lazarovits and Ueda receive WRF translational funding

    Washington Research Foundation (WRF) has awarded a $498,804 technology commercialization grant to Institute for Protein Design researchers Drs. James Lazarovits and George Ueda. The funding will enable Lazarovits and Ueda to further develop their “plug and play” Antibody Cage (AbC) Platform, which converts antibodies into new structures that uniquely bind multiple targets to improve treatment […]

  • Machine learning generates custom enzymes

    Machine learning generates custom enzymes

    Today we report in Nature the computational design of highly efficient enzymes unlike any found in nature. Laboratory testing confirms that the new light-emitting enzymes can recognize specific chemical substrates and catalyze the emission of photons very efficiently.

  • “Scientists use new A.I. tech to fight diseases”

    “Scientists use new A.I. tech to fight diseases”

    NBC reports on how our scientists are harnessing artificial intelligence to improve how proteins for medicines and vaccines are developed.

  • Frontiers of Knowledge Award goes to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper

    Frontiers of Knowledge Award goes to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper

    The 15th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone 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.” From the BBVA Foundation: Baker – a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of […]

  • “A.I. Turns Its Artistry to Creating New Human Proteins”

    “A.I. Turns Its Artistry to Creating New Human Proteins”

    The New York TImes has reported on how, Inspired by digital image generators like DALL-E, our scientists are building artificial intelligences that can fight cancer, flu and COVID-19.

  • Establishing our first international translational research project

    Establishing our first international translational research project

    From our partners at the BioInnovation Institute: BioInnovation Institute (BII), an international enterprise foundation with a non-profit objective incubating and accelerating world-class life science research, announces today that it has accepted a new project into its Bio Studio program. Based on recent breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and protein design, the project is creating a […]

  • David Baker to present at the NIH Director’s Lecture Series

    David Baker to present at the NIH Director’s Lecture Series

    David Baker presented at the NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series on December 14, 2022. From the National Institutes of Health: The NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series, colloquially known as WALS, is the highest-profile lecture program at the NIH. Traditionally, lectures have occurred on most Wednesdays from September through June from 3:00 to 4:00 […]

  • A diffusion model for protein design

    A diffusion model for protein design

    A team led by Baker Lab scientists Joseph Watson, David Juergens, Nate Bennett, Brian Trippe, and Jason Yim has created a powerful new way to design proteins by combining structure prediction networks and generative diffusion models. The team demonstrated extremely high computational success and tested hundreds of A.I.-generated proteins in the lab, finding that many […]

  • ProteinMPNN excels at creating new proteins

    ProteinMPNN excels at creating new proteins

    Over the past two years, machine learning has revolutionized protein structure prediction. Now, three papers in Science describe a similar revolution in protein design. In the new papers, scientists in the Baker lab show that machine learning can be used to create proteins much more accurately and quickly than previously possible. This could lead to […]

  • Design of membrane-traversing peptides leads to new spinout

    Design of membrane-traversing peptides leads to new spinout

    Researchers at the Institute for Protein Design have discovered how to create peptides that slip through membranes and enter cells. This drug design breakthrough may lead to new medications for a wide variety of health disorders, including cancer, infection, and inflammation. This research appears in the journal Cell [PDF]. “This new ability to design membrane-permeable […]