Vanderbilt graduate honored with Nobel Prize in Chemistry
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John M. Jumper in London. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
A Vanderbilt University graduate was among the three scientists who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this week.
Why it matters: The alum, John M. Jumper, helped develop an AI model that solved a decades-long mystery. It has predicted the complex folded shapes of millions of proteins, the building blocks of life.
- The technology has been cited in a myriad of scientific studies and is being used to discover new medicines, according to the New York Times.
What he's saying: "We can draw a straight line from what we do to people being healthy," Jumper said, per the Times.
Zoom in: The Washington Post reports the tool "gave researchers the long-sought ability to predict how proteins twist and fold to create complex 3D structures that can block viruses, build muscle or degrade plastic."
State of play: Jumper collaborated with Demis Hassabis, who was also honored with the Nobel Prize, to create the technology. The pair works at Google DeepMind in London.
- Scientist David Baker was also honored for using computer technology to design proteins.
The big picture: The Nobel prize is often awarded for research done decades ago, after its impact can be clearly assessed as having "the greatest benefit to humankind."
- But it was a quicker turnaround for Jumper. The technology he helped develop was first demonstrated just four years ago. It has already been used by scientists around the world to tackle a range of scientific problems.
Flashback: Jumper graduated with a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt in 2007.
- He is one of two Vanderbilt alums to win a Nobel Prize. Muhammad Yunus, a Ph.D. graduate, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding a bank that gave loans to impoverished people in Bangladesh.
The intrigue: Jumper, who is in his 30s, is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in more than 70 years.