Nobel Laureates In 2024: A Brief Outline Of Their Work & Applications For Mankind

Dr. BHASKAR CHAKRABORTY

The Nobel Prizes were established by Sir Alfred Nobel who was a Swedish scientist famous for its discoveries and patents in different fields of science. As one of the best-known discoveries was “Dynamite” Nobel didn’t want to leave a bitter legacy after his death and in his “Will” he set aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes to be awarded without distinction of nationality. After Nobel’s death, the “Nobel Foundation” was set up to carry out the provisions of his will and to administer his funds.  According to his testament in 1895 and since then every year the prizes are conferred to those who during the preceding year have contributed the greatest benefit to mankind. The first Nobel Prize was given in 1901 and since then it has been provided for Medicine/Physiology, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace & Economics/Economical Sciences. Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in many fields of scientific knowledge and literature. It is widely known as the highest distinction for human intelligence but also the applications of their contributions to the society and humankind. In addition, this award is known not only to every scientist, but also to a large number of average people.

This year’s “Nobel” prizes were scheduled between 7^th October to 14^th October, 2024. A brief outline of the work and the contributions by the laureates are enclosed for the benefit of our readers and also to familiarize the nature of inventions as well as newer concepts for mankind.

Physiology/Medicine (7^th October, 2024) on “Micro-RNA Discovery”

US duo Prof.Victor Ambros and Prof.Gary Ruvkun of MIT, USA win Nobel medicine for micro RNA discovery. The scientists, who worked together as postdocs at MIT are honored for their discovery of micro RNA, a class of molecules that are critical for gene regulation. Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered micro RNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery in the small worm C elegans revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation. This turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. Micro RNA’s are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.

The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were interested in how different cell types develop.

They discovered micro RNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome codes for over one thousand micro RNA’s. Their surprising discovery revealed an entirely new dimension to gene regulation. Micro RNA’s are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.

Gene regulation by micro RNA, first revealed by Ambros and Ruvkun, has been at work for hundreds of millions of years. This mechanism has enabled the evolution of increasingly complex organisms. We know from genetic research that cells and tissues do not develop normally without micro RNA’s. Abnormal regulation by micro RNA can contribute to cancer and mutations in genes coding for micro RNA’s have been found in humans, causing conditions such as congenital hearing loss, eye and skeletal disorders. Mutations in one of the proteins required for micro RNA production result in the DICER1 syndrome, a rare but severe syndrome linked to cancer in various organs and tissues.

Physics (8^th October, 2024) on “Machines that Learn using AI”

Nobel prize in physics has been given to Prof.John Hopfield of Princeton University and Prof.Geoffrey Hinton of the University of Toronto for their pioneering work on their groundbreaking work on foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks which underlie much about of modern "Artificial Intelligence". Many people have experienced how computers can translate between languages, interpret images and even conduct reasonable conversations. What is perhaps less well known is that this type of technology has long been important for research, including the sorting and analysis of vast amounts of data. The development of machine learning has exploded over the past fifteen to twenty years and utilizes a structure called an artificial neural network. Nowadays, when we talk about artificial intelligence, this is often the type of technology we mean. Although computers cannot think, machines can now mimic functions such as memory and learning. This year’s laureates in physics have helped make this possible. Using fundamental concepts and methods from physics, they have developed technologies that use structures in networks to process information.

The inspiration initially came from the desire to understand how the brain works. In the 1940s, researchers had started to reason around the mathematics that underlies the brain’s network of neurons and synapses. Another piece of the puzzle came from psychology, thanks to neuroscientist Donald Hebb’s hypothesis about how learning occurs because connections between neurons are reinforced when they work together. Later, these ideas were followed by attempts to recreate how the brain’s network functions by building artificial neural networks as computer simulations. In these, the brain’s neurons are mimicked by nodes that are given different values, and the synapses are represented by connections between the nodes that can be made stronger or weaker. Donald Hebb’s hypothesis is still used as one of the basic rules for updating artificial networks through a process called training.

The pioneering methods and concepts developed by 2024 physics laureates John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton have been instrumental in shaping the field of artificial neural networks. This year’s physics’ laureates breakthroughs stand on the foundations of physical science. They have showed a completely new way for us to use computers to aid and to guide us to tackle many of the challenges our society face.  Thanks to their work humanity now has a new item in its toolbox, which we can choose to use for good purposes. Machine learning based on artificial neural networks is currently revolutionizing science, engineering and daily life. The field is already on its way to enable breakthroughs toward building a sustainable society, such as identifying new functional materials. How deep learning by artificial neural networks will be used in the future depends on how we humans choose to use these incredibly potent tools, already present in many aspects of our lives.

Chemistry (9^th October, 2024) on “Protein Structure Identification using Computational & AI Applications”

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 has been awarded with one half to Prof. David Baker of University of Washington, USA “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Prof. Demis Hassabis and Prof. John M. Jumper of United Kingdom (worked at UCL, London) “for protein structure prediction”. This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is all about “Proteins”, life’s ingenious chemical tools. David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem by predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential.

Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have successfully utilized "Artificial Intelligence" to predict the structure of almost all known proteins. David Baker has learned how to master life’s building blocks and create entirely new proteins. Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. They are made up of smaller units called “Amino acids”, which are linked together in long chains. There are 20 different types of amino acids, and the specific sequence in which they are arranged determines the protein's structure and function. One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream and is the predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences. Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities,” said Heiner Linke, “Chair of the Nobel Committee” for Chemistry.

In 2003, Baker successfully designed a new protein from scratch. His research group has since created a range of innovative proteins that have applications in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials, and sensors. Meanwhile, the AI-based breakthrough from Hassabis and Jumper came in 2020 with the introduction of “AlphaFold2”. Their model can predict the structure of nearly all 200 million proteins identified by researchers, a feat previously thought impossible. AlphaFold2 has been used by millions of scientists globally to address issues such as antibiotic resistance and plastic degradation.

“Life could not exist without proteins. That we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins confers the greatest benefit to humankind,” The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement. Chemistry is very close to Sir Alfred Nobel's heart and the discipline most applicable to his own work as an inventor, may not always be the most headline-grabbing of the prizes but past recipients include scientific greats such as radioactivity pioneers Ernest Rutherford and Marie Curie.

So happy for this brilliant work which will enable our research work to find out the complicated structures of "Dipeptides, Tripeptides and many more" for our new molecules.

Literature (10^th October. 2024) on “Intense Poetic Prose (Historical Traumas & Fragility of Human life”

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 has been awarded to 53-year-old South Korean novelist Han Kang “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose.

Han’s novels, novellas, essays and short story collections have variously explored themes of patriarchy, violence, grief and humanity. Her 2007 novel “The Vegetarian”, which was translated into English in 2015 by Deborah Smith, won the “International Booker prize” in 2016.

Han is the first South Korean author and 18th woman to win the prize. Her “empathy for vulnerable, often female, lives is palpable, and reinforced by her metaphorically charged prose,” said Anders Olsson, “Chair of the Nobel committee”.

She “has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in a poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose”. Han, whose works include “The Vegetarian”, was praised for her ‘intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life’.

Her works also include “The White Book”, “Human Acts” and “Greek Lessons.

Peace (11^th October, 2024) on “Nuclear Weapon Free World”

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 has been awarded to “Nihon-Hidankyo, Japanese Atomic Bomb Survivors Group” for their continuing efforts towards creating a “Nuclear Weapon Free World”

for ‘demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again and a world free of nuclear weapons' said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the “Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee” in Oslo, Norway.

The grassroots movement from Hiroshima and Nagasaki is also known as “Hibakusha”. The fates of those who survived the infernos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were long concealed and neglected. In 1956, local “Hibakusha” associations along with victims of nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific formed the "Japan Confederation of Atom and Hydrogen-Bomb Sufferers Organisations". This name was shortened in Japanese to "Nihon Hidankyo". It has become the largest and most influential Hibakusha organisation in Japan.

Economical Sciences/Economics (14^th October, 2024) “On How Institutions are Formed and affect Prosperity”

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in "Economic Sciences" in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024 is awarded to Prof Daron Acemoglu, Prof. Simon Johnson of MIT, USA  and Prof. James Robinson of University of Chicago, USA “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”

The laureates have contributed innovative research about what affects countries’ economic prosperity in the long run. Their insights regarding how institutions influence prosperity show that work to support democracy and inclusive institutions is an important way forward in the promotion of economic development. The laureates’ model for explaining the circumstances under which political institutions are formed and changed has three components. “The first is a conflict over how resources are allocated and who holds decision-making power in a society (the elite or the masses).”

"The second is that the masses sometimes have the opportunity to exercise power by mobilising and threatening the ruling elite; power in a society is thus more than the power to make decisions". "The third is the commitment problem, which means that the only alternative is for the elite to hand over decision-making power to the populace.”  This award is officially known as the 'Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences recognizes contributions to the field of economics, such as innovative theories and practical applications. These contributions often address areas like market dynamics, policy impacts, or behavioral economics. The laureates have contributed innovative research about what affects countries’ economic prosperity in the long run. Their insights regarding how institutions influence prosperity show that work to support democracy and inclusive institutions is an important way forward in the promotion of economic development.

Courtesy: Nobelprizestories2024

(The writer is Professor of Chemistry, Sikkim Government College (NBBGC), Tadong, Gangtok)