Research in microRNA, protein folding and machine learning wins Scientific Nobel Prize

Hurricane Milton delays Europa Clipper launch, Science Nobel Prize focuses on AI

Written by Rachel Feltman and Fonda Mwangi & Anassa Luis Tejada

Rachel Feltman:Happy Monday, listeners! Start this week by catching up on the latest science news. for scientific american‘s science fastI’m Rachel Feltman.

The 2024 Nobel Prize winners were announced last week, so let’s start with a quick overview of the winners.

Last Monday, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambrose and Gary Lubukun “for their discovery of microRNAs and their role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.” Small pieces of RNA molecules, known as microRNAs, help control how genes are expressed. Here’s a little primer on context: DNA is, of course, the molecule that carries our genetic code. RNA, short for ribonucleic acid, is chemically similar to DNA, but it is usually made up of single strands rather than the iconic small double helix. Molecules also serve a variety of biological functions. While the DNA remains in the cell’s nucleus, it sends out a strand of RNA that contains part of the genetic code so that the instructions can be passed on to the parts of the cell that actually make the proteins. Messenger RNA (mRNA), which was nominated for a Nobel Prize in this category last year thanks to its use in coronavirus vaccines, is the type of RNA that actually carries these protein-coding instructions. microRNA Helps control gene expression By binding to messenger RNA and preventing it from transmitting protein-producing messages.

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Let’s keep moving towards the Nobel Prize in Physics. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their machine learning research. Inspired by the way the human brain uses neurons connected by synapses to retain and recall information, Hopfield designed an artificial neural network in 1982. In our brains, connections between individual neurons can become stronger or weaker depending on our thought patterns. Nodes in an artificial neural network are trained to associate more strongly with certain other nodes in the system based on patterns they learn over time. Hinton used Hopfield’s work as a starting point to create his own new neural network. Collectively, their work helped set the stage for modern machine learning, and basically everything we call artificial intelligence. It’s worth noting that Hinton, often referred to as the “godfather of AI,” says: Currently, he is vocally advocating for caution in the development and application of artificial intelligence.. Stay tuned for this Friday’s episode, where we’ll be talking more about AI and how it’s being incorporated into the 2024 election.

Speaking of AI, it is also playing a central role in this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Half of the prize money is The award went to Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s AI research subsidiary Google DeepMind, and his colleague John Jumper last Wednesday for their use of artificial intelligence to unravel the mysteries of the three-dimensional structure of proteins. was awarded. David Baker won the other half of the award for developing computational tools that enable scientists to design entirely new proteins.

Scientists have understood since the 1960s that the complex 3D shapes of proteins that enable life to emerge are baked into proteins based on the order of their amino acid building blocks. There are a surprising number of theoretical shapes for the amino acid sequences that make up proteins. It was done If these chains were folded randomly, it would take more time just brute force to create the correct shape than our universe has ever existed. However, within a cell, this process takes less than a second. This means that the amino acid sequence must encode folding instructions, and we should be able to understand the structure of a folded protein based solely on its constituent parts. In 2018, DeepMind’s protein folding model AlphaFold defeated existing protein folding prediction methods, but it was still far from perfect. In 2020, Jumper’s contributions to the project led to a new version called AlphaFold2, which successfully predicted protein shapes with surprising accuracy.

As for Mr. Baker, he designed a computer software called Rosetta in the ’90s. This is one of the techniques that AlphaFold will eventually one-up. But his research went beyond the quest to understand protein folding. In 2003, he showed that Rosetta could be used to design new proteins with new functions. And a few years ago, inspired by the success of AlphaFold2, he added an AI model to the mix, completely accelerating the protein creation process.

That’s it for this week’s Nobel news. Next, let’s take a look at some of the latest information about the coronavirus.

A study published last Wednesday suggests that the new coronavirus may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, even years after the infection itself. Using a UK dataset of approximately 250,000 peopleResearchers have found that people who were infected with the coronavirus before a vaccine was available had more than twice the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death for at least three years afterwards. This means that as long as you keep track of them, the risk doesn’t seem to decrease over time. . Hospitalizations due to the coronavirus have further increased that risk. So if you haven’t yet gotten your latest coronavirus booster, use this as a reminder to get your jab as soon as possible and get your flu shot in the meantime.

last wednesday we siam Editor Andrea Thompson joins us on the pod to discuss the changing landscape of hurricane season in the wake of the climate crisis. And I wish the episode hadn’t been so talked about. Hurricane Milton made landfall later that day. Category 3 storm hits Florida’s west coast. at least Nineteen tornadoes struck the state that day.As of this recording Friday, millions of people remain without power, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The storm weakened as it crossed the state, but maintained hurricane status long enough to hit Florida’s east coast on Thursday on its way into the Atlantic Ocean.

Milton was an alarming storm, although authorities say the damage and threats to life were not as extreme as expected. This is the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida this season, and the fifth hurricane to make landfall on the Gulf Coast in 2024. This is pretty close to a record. This was the only time in history that there were five Gulf hurricanes in one year. In 2005 and 2020, Not since 1886 have more storms hit this region.. Milton’s maximum sustained wind speeds of 180 miles per hour reportedly made it the strongest hurricane to hit the Gulf of Mexico late this season, and tied for the sixth-strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin for wind speeds. .

Speaking of Milton, NASA had to cancel the October 10th launch due to the hurricane. The long-awaited European Clipper Mission above SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. After Europa Clipper launches, it will take about five and a half years to head to the Jupiter system. Clipper is expected to determine the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. It is thought that there is an ocean that is more than twice the total volume of the Earth.. To protect against the high levels of radiation surrounding Jupiter and its moons, Clipper will make 49 rapid flights around Europa to gather information, then retreat to process the data and send messages back to Earth. The launch window for this spacecraft is open until early November, so we hope that NASA will be able to successfully launch it soon.

That’s all for this week’s science news roundup. We’ll be back on Wednesday to talk to doctors who are helping their colleagues learn to remove bias from their bedside manner. And on Friday we’ll be chatting siamBen Guarino talks about how the 2024 election could impact the future of AI and how AI could impact election outcomes.

science fast It is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg, and Jeff DelVisio. This episode was edited by Anassa Luis Tejada. Shayna Possess and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe scientific american Check out more latest and in-depth science news.

for scientific american, Rachel Feltman. Have a great week!