Why DeepMinds AlphaFold2 Winning Noble Prize In Chemistry Is Such A Big Deal?
When Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prize in 1895, the world was completely different than our present world — no computers, no concept of computer science, and certainly no award in computing. To recognize achievements in the new fields of Computers, the Turing Award was later created to honor contributions to computer science. However, 2024 has marked a fundamental shift in the Nobel landscape, as the Chemistry and Physics Prizes were awarded to computer scientists for their AI-driven discoveries. This is an unprecedented achievement, highlighting how advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence now intersect deeply with other scientific fields.
The award to DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and his team is a monumental recognition of AI’s increasing role in other technical fields. DeepMind’s AlphaFold2 solved the complex problem of predicting protein structures — a task that was unsolved for 50 years. Something so groundbreaking that it could change the entire biological and chemical sciences.
AlphaFold2’s breakthrough enables rapid, accurate predictions of protein folding, allowing scientists to better understand biological processes, develop drugs, and even design new proteins.
Note: I don’t know much about biology, so this is going to be a good opportunity for me to learn a thing or two about the field and applications of AI in a new field.
