Google AI spin-off boss wins Nobel Prize for chemistry research

Hans Ellegren, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that decides on the winner, announced the prize on Wednesday.

Baker designed a new protein in 2003 and his research group has since produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors, the Nobel committee said.

Hassabis and Jumper created an artificial intelligence model that has been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified, the committee added.

Last year, the chemistry award went to three scientists for their work on quantum dots — tiny particles just a few nanometers in diameter that can release very bright coloured light and whose applications in everyday life include electronics and medical imaging.

The awards continue with the literature prize on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on October 14.

The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.58 million) from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.