On October 9, 2024, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded, celebrating remarkable advancements in protein design and structural research. David Baker, a biochemistry professor at the University of Washington, received half of the prize for his pioneering work in computational protein design. The other half honored John Jumper and Demis Hassabis from Google DeepMind for their revolutionary contributions to protein structure prediction.
Since the Nobel Prizes began in 1901, there have been 115 awards in Chemistry, featuring a total of 194 laureates. It’s interesting to note that only two individuals, Frederick Sanger from the UK and K. Barry Sharpless from the US, have been recognized with the award twice, resulting in 192 unique laureates overall.
Among the current recipients, the oldest laureate is John B. Goodenough, who received the award in 2019 at the age of 97 for his groundbreaking research on lithium-ion batteries. His work is considered crucial in paving the way for a society that relies on renewable energy through electric vehicle charging. On the other hand, the youngest laureate to date is Frédéric Joliot, who was honored in 1935 at just 35 years old for his achievements in synthesizing new radioactive elements.
