💡 Nobel laureate transforms AI hallucinations into new proteins

• David Baker uses AI's ability to generate hallucination to develop entirely new proteins for medical treatment.
• His team converts AI's imagined protein structures into real proteins that can be used in healthcare.
• The method has led to 10 million new proteins, approximately 100 patents, and over 20 biotech companies.

From AI's imagined structures to real proteins

David Baker from the University of Washington, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2023, has developed a method where he utilizes AI's ability to generate unexpected ideas. He lets AI models process random amino acid sequences to create protein structures that don't exist in nature.

Baker got the idea from Google DeepDream, an AI model that transforms images into surrealistic versions. Just as DeepDream creates new images, Baker let an AI model create new protein structures. The AI model was first trained to recognize characteristics of real proteins.

From virtual to reality

In a 2021 study, Baker's team successfully converted AI's imagined protein structures into reality. They used the information from AI as a blueprint to produce DNA strands. When these were introduced into microorganisms, the organisms created 129 completely new proteins that had never existed before.

Baker has now advanced the technology with an AI method called diffusion - the same technology used in image-generating AI like DALL-E. The new method is faster and more successful in creating new protein designs.

Extensive results

Baker's method has led to the creation of 10 million new proteins. His laboratory has received approximately 100 patents, many for medical care, including new ways to treat cancer and viral infections. He has also founded or helped start over 20 biotech companies based on this research.

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