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British computer scientist Sir Demis Hassabis has been awarded a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “breakthrough” work on proteins. Sir Demis, 48, chief executive and and co-founder of London-based artificial intelligence start-up Google DeepMind, received the honour alongside American John Jumper, a senior research scientist at the company. The pair contributed to the development of an AI model which helped solve one of biology’s biggest mysteries that has puzzled scientists for more than five decades: how do protein structures form? They share the prize with David Baker, of the University of Washington, who pioneered the method for designing proteins.
The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said: “One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. “The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences.
“Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities.” Sir Demis is the second British-born scientist to win a Nobel this year, with Professor Geoffrey Hinton receiving the physics award on Tuesday for his work on AI. Massive congratulations to my good friend and former Google colleague on winning the Nobel Prize in Physics (with John Hopfield)! Incredibly well deserved, Geoff laid the foundations for the deep learning revolution that underpins the modern AI field.
— Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) He sent a congratulatory message on X, formerly Twitter, yesterday which said: “Massive congratulations to my good friend and former Google colleague @geoffreyhinton on winning the Nobel Prize in Physics (with John Hopfield)! “Incredibly well deserved, Geoff laid the foundations for the deep learning revolution that underpins the modern AI field.” In 2020, Sir Demis and Dr Jumper presented AlphaFold2, the AI model the company had developed to help predict the complex structures of proteins. Since the 1970s, scientists around the world have been trying to work out how a protein folds into a unique three-dimensional shape.
With its help, researchers have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that have been identified. Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. The hope is that knowing how proteins – the building blocks of life – work will help pave the way for development of novel drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, dementia and even Covid-19.
Sir Demis was born in London in 1976. A child chess prodigy, he designed and programmed a multimillion-selling game called Theme Park in his teens before going to Cambridge University. He received his PhD in from University College London, with the journal Science listing his research on imagination and memory as one of 2007’s top 10 breakthroughs.
Sir Demis co-founded DeepMind in London in 2010, which he sold to Google in 2014. In 2017, he featured in the Time 100 list of most influential people, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018. Delighted and honoured to receive a Knighthood for services to AI.
It’s been an incredible journey so far building over the past 15 years, helping accelerate the field and grow the UK & global AI ecosystems. Thanks to everyone who helped make this dream possible! — Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) Earlier this year, Sir Demis was knighted for his services to AI. The winners share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor (£810,000).
Prof Baker will receive half of the award, with the remaining half going to Sir Demis and Prof Jumper. Commenting on the announcement, Sir Adrian Smith, president of the Royal Society, said: “Today’s prize, so soon after the first unveiling of AlphaFold’s potential, is a clear recognition of AI’s transformative role in science. “As well as being one of the field’s most pioneering researchers, Demis has championed a vision of AI as an enabler that can unlock science’s great challenges and release benefits for all of society.
“It gives me great pleasure to see that work recognised and I offer my warmest congratulations, on behalf of the Royal Society.”.
