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“I have this idea of a communal brain.” David Baker, PhD, told me as I sat in his office at the University of Washington (UW) surrounded by colorful and complex figurines of protein structures. It was the one-year anniversary of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry win. Just outside his doors, a lab of more than 100 researchers was united by the shared ambition to design proteins from scratch (or de novo) for powerful applic
Croonian Prize Lecture: Advances in computational protein design Join us for the Croonian Prize Lecture delivered by Dr David Baker. The Croonian Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Dr David Baker for pioneering the design of completely new proteins as well as playing key roles in the development of protein structure prediction and protein engineering tools. Proteins mediate the critical processes of life and beauti
Today we report the development of AI-generated protein catalysts that function efficiently immediately upon synthesis, bypassing the need for lab optimization that has historically bottlenecked enzyme development. While prior protein design software yielded enzymes with only trace levels of activity, RFdiffusion2 delivers catalytic proficiencies — a rigorous measure of how well an enzyme captures and converts a mole
A new study led by the Baker Lab shows for the first time that functional, full-length antibodies can be developed entirely on computers — no animal immunizations or extensive screening required. This breakthrough could reshape the $200 billion antibody drug industry and open pathways to treatments for diseases currently considered undruggable. The work builds on a preprint we posted in March 2024 showing AI could ge
SEATTLE — In celebration of Nobel Prize announcement week, Fay Lin, PhD, Senior Editor, Technology at GEN, sat down with Nobel Laureate, David Baker, PhD, to unpack the hype vs. reality surrounding designing proteins from scratch (de novo) and explore what’s needed for the AI revolution to truly transform medicine. Baker, who is also the director of the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) at the University of Washingt