Sharing the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Dr. Hassabis and Dr. Jumper is Professor David Baker (USA) for his protein design algorithm.
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Hassabis and Dr. Jumper announced an AI model called AlphaFold2 in 2020. With the help of this model, they were able to predict the structures of nearly 200 million proteins previously identified by scientists.
Since then, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people in 190 countries. AlphaFold2 has enabled a range of scientific applications, allowing researchers to gain insights into antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can break down plastic.
Mr. Heiner Linke - Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said that the AlphaFold2 model developed by Dr. Hassabis and Dr. Jumper has realized a 50-year dream in this field.
Previously, in 2022, the VinFuture Special Prize for Scientists researching new fields was awarded to these two scientists. The VinFuture Prize Council assessed that the pioneering work on the AlphaFold 2 protein decoding artificial intelligence system has created a revolution in protein structure modeling. From there, it promotes breakthrough developments in the fields of biomedicine, medicine and agriculture.
AlphaFold 2 has reduced the processing time from several years to just a few days, even minutes, accelerating the progress of solving important problems in life. The project has also provided a database of structures of more than 200 million proteins as a research resource for thousands of other scientists around the world.
This is not the first time that VinFuture Prize winners have been honored with prestigious international awards for their discoveries that have had a huge positive impact on humanity. Last year, the first VinFuture Prize winners, Dr. Katalin Kariko and Prof. Drew Weissman, were also awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on nucleoside modifications, which helped develop an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19.
The fact that VinFuture Prize-winning scientists are increasingly honored at prestigious international awards has affirmed the effectiveness of the VinFuture Prize's nomination selection process.
At the same time, it demonstrates to the world the stature and vision of the VinFuture Prize Council. Thereby affirming the important role of VinFuture in evaluating and promoting research in the field of global Science and Technology, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position in the world.
