Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein structure prediction

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by t_mann on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @06:56AM (#41786443)

Here's 8 densely printed pages of contributors to a discovery that lead to a Nobel prize:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.7214#page=26

Guess how many of them were included in the prize. It's a shame that the Nobel committee shies away from awarding it to institutions, but the AlphaFold prize doesn't even make the top 10 in a list of most controversial omissions from a Nobel prize. It's a simple case of lab director gets the most credit.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by throwaway48476 on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @07:40AM (#41786774)

Perhaps it's time the prize goes to the discovery itself instead of a person.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by BurningFrog on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @11:25AM (#41788883)

How do you give $1M to a discovery?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by throwaway48476 on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @05:14PM (#41792712)

$1M ain't what it used to be.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by ascorbic on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @08:27AM (#41787145)

It's not a case of shying away from it: the rules of the prize don't allow it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by myworkinisgood on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @08:53AM (#41787405)

rules of the prize can be changed.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by afthonos on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @09:53AM (#41788013)

Can they? I mean, in the sense that you can yolo anything, sure, but the prizes were designed in a time when it was (more) reasonable to award them to individuals, and they are defined in a will. There may not be a mechanism for updating the standards.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by hyperbrainer on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @11:21AM (#41788844)

Yes, they can. In 1901, science was not nearly as collaborative as it is today. Especially considering the need for a Nobel Prize to be experimental and the fact that most major labs today _need_ dozens of people.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by achierius on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @11:49AM (#41789240)

He asked _can_ not _should_: what is the legal mechanism for doing so? Personally I don't doubt there is one but I don't think you know it off the top of your head, so I don't see it as fair to disparage OP for not knowing either.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by hyperbrainer on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @12:22PM (#41789669)

Well, it seems like amendments have been made before. [0] > Before the board ... votes on a proposal to amend the statutes ... with the first paragraph, the prize-awarding bodies shall examine the proposal.

https://www.nobelprize.org/organization/special-regulations-...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by afthonos on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @11:49AM (#41789236)

That…has nothing to do with my question. It was a procedural and legal question, not an abstract moral one.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Chemistry Nobel: Computational protein design and protein... by hyperbrainer on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @12:22PM (#41789671)

https://www.nobelprize.org/organization/special-regulations-...

[ Parent | on HN ]