Groundbreaking AI, gene regulation, and protein science innovations have shaped this year’s Nobel Prizes in physics, medicine, and chemistry.
British-Canadian researcher Geoffrey Hinton, known as a “godfather” of AI, and American John Hopfield share the Physics prize for their contributions to machine learning. Hinton’s pioneering work on neural networks, which led him to a prominent role at Google before his 2023 resignation over AI risks, is honoured alongside Hopfield’s development of machine networks that mimic the brain’s pattern recognition.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognises Gary Ruvkun and Victor Ambros for their discovery of microRNAs and their role in gene regulation, a finding originating from early 1990s research.
In chemistry, a trio of scientists receive accolades for advancements in protein science. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, from Google DeepMind, are honored for AlphaFold2’s AI-driven protein structure predictions, impacting various scientific fields. The other half of the award goes to David Baker, whose computational protein design breakthroughs since 2023 have spurred developments in pharmaceuticals and sensors.
The Nobel Prizes, awarded on December 10, offer around 11 million Swedish kroner (£800,000) each.
Read the full story here.
