PProteins, each with their own unique three-dimensional architecture, are the body’s molecular tools, adapted to perform the specific tasks necessary to sustain life. For decades, researchers have modified proteins to increase or alter their function. Insulin lispro, for example, is a modified form of natural insulin that removes sugar from the blood more quickly than the original protein, making it a useful diabetes drug.
However, David Baker, director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, is not interested in making modifications. Instead of modifying the proteins that evolution gave us, Baker designs completely new ones.
Much of Baker’s early research was aimed at understanding how proteins fold. But in the 1990s, after developing a software program, Rosetta, to help answer this question, Baker and his research team realized that they could essentially run the software backwards and design a protein based in the desired way. In recent years, Baker and researchers in his lab have designed proteins that act as biological “logic gates,” allowing scientists to program cellular functions, such as gene expression, just as they would with a computer and a protein-based antiviral nasal spray that points to COVID-19.
Baker has co-founded 17 companies and has obtained more than 100 patents. Rosetta has evolved into RosettaCommons, one of the most widely used protein design software packages. For his research, Baker, now director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, received the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
Recently, Baker has become a leader in combating the social implications of the technologies he has helped create. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have raised fears that AI systems could exacerbate bioterrorism risks. In response, Baker moved forward agreement this year, signed by more than 90 scientists in the field, which is committed to promoting the development and responsible use of AI protein design tools.