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.”

Baker – a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Washington and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator – developed the RoseTTAFold program, while Hassabis and Jumper – CEO and senior research scientist respectively at AI company DeepMind – are the creators of AlphaFold2. “Both computing methods,” the committee explains, “rely on a sophisticated machine-learning technique known as deep learning to predict the shape of proteins with unprecedented accuracy, similar to that of experimentally-determined structures, and with exceptional speed.”

“This breakthrough,” it concludes, “is revolutionizing our understanding of how the amino acid sequence of proteins leads to uniquely ordered three-dimensional structures. Scientists are now using these new methods to predict protein conformations, design entirely new proteins and identify novel drug targets.”