A biochemist at the University of Washington School of Medicine has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work in computational protein design.

When David Baker first set out decades ago to use computers to design completely new proteins, some questioned whether it could be done. Scientists had figured out how to alter proteins found in nature -- the building blocks for all living things -- but not create them from whole cloth.

"We were actually on the lunatic fringe for many, many years in trying to make proteins that could carry out very sophisticated functions starting just completely from scratch," Baker said.

Today, the UW Institute for Protein Design, which Baker directs, is filled with researchers doing exactly that -- doing amino acid origami using computer models to build novel proteins to target cancer cells, develop snake antivenom, fix carbon, speed up photosynthesis, and dissolve pollutants like microplastics.

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They've already helped develop a Covid-19 vaccine, Baker said, and are now tackling other viruses with pandemic potential.