David Baker

David Baker
Born	6 10, 1962
Birthplace	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Biochemist, computational biologist
Title	Professor of Biochemistry; Director, Institute for Protein Design
Employer	University of Washington
Known for	Computational protein design, Rosetta software, Foldit
Education	Ph.D. in Biochemistry (University of California, Berkeley)
Awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2024), NAI Fellow (2025)

David Baker (born October 6, 1962) is an American biochemist and computational biologist who serves as a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington and as the director of the Institute for Protein Design. His career has been defined by pioneering work in the field of computational protein structure prediction and de novo protein design, research that earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024. Baker is the developer of the Rosetta software suite, one of the most widely used platforms for protein modeling and design, and the creator of Foldit, a citizen science computer game that engages the public in solving protein-folding problems. His research has had significant implications across medicine, biotechnology, and materials science, contributing to the development of novel enzymes, vaccine candidates, and biosensors. In December 2024, Baker was interviewed during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden, where he discussed the influences and trajectory of his scientific career. In December 2025, the University of Washington announced that Baker had been elected to the National Academy of Inventors as part of its 2025 class of NAI Fellows, further underscoring his contributions to innovation in the biological sciences.

Early Life

David Baker was born on October 6, 1962, in Seattle, Washington. Details about his upbringing and family background were touched upon during his Nobel Week interview in Stockholm in December 2024, in which the interviewer asked Baker about the influence of his parents on his intellectual development. Baker grew up in the Pacific Northwest, a region that would later become the center of his professional life and scientific achievements. While specific details about his childhood and family from the available sources are limited, Baker's Nobel interview suggests that his parents played a formative role in shaping his curiosity and approach to science.

Baker's early interest in science and the natural world eventually led him to pursue higher education in the biological sciences. He would go on to develop a deep interest in the fundamental questions of how proteins fold into their three-dimensional structures — a problem that had been one of the grand challenges of modern biology since the mid-twentieth century. The so-called "protein folding problem" — understanding how a linear chain of amino acids reliably folds into a specific three-dimensional shape that determines its function — attracted Baker's attention during his formative years as a student and young researcher.

Education

David Baker pursued his undergraduate education before enrolling in graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry. His doctoral work laid the groundwork for his later contributions to computational biology and protein science. The rigorous training he received at Berkeley in biochemistry provided him with both the experimental and theoretical foundations necessary to tackle the protein folding problem using computational methods. After completing his doctorate, Baker joined the faculty at the University of Washington, where he would build the research program that eventually brought him international recognition.

Career

Computational Protein Science and the Rosetta Software

David Baker's career at the University of Washington has centered on the development of computational methods for predicting and designing protein structures. He holds the position of professor of biochemistry and serves as director of the Institute for Protein Design at the university. His most notable contribution to the field is the development of the Rosetta software suite, a comprehensive platform for computational modeling of macromolecular structures. Rosetta uses physics-based and knowledge-based energy functions to predict how proteins fold and to design entirely new protein structures that do not exist in nature.

The development of Rosetta represented a significant advance in structural biology, as it provided researchers with a powerful tool for exploring the vast space of possible protein conformations. The software has been used by thousands of researchers around the world and has been applied to a wide range of problems, from predicting the structures of naturally occurring proteins to designing novel proteins with specific desired properties.

Baker's approach to protein design, often called de novo protein design, involves using computational algorithms to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein that will fold into a predetermined three-dimensional structure. This is essentially the inverse of the protein folding problem: rather than predicting the structure from the sequence, the goal is to determine a sequence that will produce a desired structure. The success of Baker and his laboratory in this endeavor has demonstrated that it is possible to create functional proteins from scratch, opening up new possibilities in biotechnology, medicine, and materials science.

Foldit and Citizen Science

In addition to his academic research tools, Baker is known for his creation of Foldit, an online puzzle video game that allows members of the general public to contribute to scientific research by solving protein-folding puzzles. Foldit harnesses the pattern-recognition abilities of human players to explore protein conformations that computational algorithms might miss. The game has attracted hundreds of thousands of players worldwide and has produced results that have contributed to published scientific research. Foldit represents one of the most successful examples of citizen science in the biological sciences, demonstrating that non-experts can make meaningful contributions to complex scientific problems when provided with appropriate tools and frameworks.

Applications in Medicine and Biotechnology

The practical applications of Baker's research have been wide-ranging. His laboratory at the Institute for Protein Design has developed computationally designed proteins for use as potential vaccine candidates, including work on vaccines targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other pathogens. The laboratory has also designed novel enzymes capable of catalyzing chemical reactions not found in nature, as well as biosensors that can detect specific molecules with high sensitivity and specificity.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Baker's laboratory applied its protein design capabilities to develop miniproteins that could bind tightly to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease. These designed proteins demonstrated the potential of computational protein design to respond rapidly to emerging public health threats.

Baker's work has also contributed to the broader field of synthetic biology, in which engineered biological components are used to create systems with new functions. By demonstrating that proteins can be designed from first principles to perform specific tasks, Baker's research has helped establish a foundation for the rational engineering of biological molecules.

Institute for Protein Design

As director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, Baker has overseen the growth of a research center that brings together scientists from multiple disciplines, including biochemistry, computer science, and bioengineering. The institute has become one of the leading centers in the world for computational protein science and has trained numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who have gone on to establish their own research programs and biotechnology companies.

The institute's work encompasses both basic research into the principles of protein folding and design, and applied research aimed at developing new therapeutic proteins, diagnostic tools, and industrial enzymes. Under Baker's leadership, the institute has maintained a commitment to making its software tools freely available to the academic community, a policy that has contributed to the widespread adoption of Rosetta and related software platforms.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2024)

In 2024, David Baker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to computational protein design. The prize recognized his work in developing methods that allow scientists to create entirely new proteins with predetermined structures and functions. Baker's Nobel lecture and related activities took place during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden, in December 2024. During an interview recorded on December 6, 2024, Baker discussed the trajectory of his scientific career, the influence of his parents, and the broader implications of computational protein design for science and society.

The Nobel Prize cemented Baker's status as one of the most influential scientists in the field of structural biology and computational chemistry. His award brought increased public attention to the field of protein design and its potential applications in medicine, environmental science, and industry.

Recognition

David Baker has received numerous honors and awards throughout his career, reflecting the significance of his contributions to science.

His most prominent recognition is the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received in 2024 for his work in computational protein design. The award acknowledged his development of methods for designing new proteins from scratch, work that has had far-reaching implications for multiple fields of science and technology.

In December 2025, the University of Washington announced that Baker had been elected as an NAI Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors' 2025 class. The announcement noted Baker alongside fellow UW researcher Lih-Yuan Lin as the university's newest NAI Fellows. Election to the NAI recognizes academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, or the welfare of society.

Baker is also a member of several other prestigious scientific academies and has received numerous other prizes and honors over the course of his career, including recognition from professional societies in chemistry, biochemistry, and computational biology. His work has been cited tens of thousands of times in the scientific literature, making him one of the most highly cited researchers in the biological sciences.

Legacy

David Baker's contributions to science have fundamentally altered the landscape of protein biochemistry and structural biology. Before his work, proteins were studied primarily as products of natural evolution — molecules whose structures and functions had been shaped over billions of years of biological history. Baker's research demonstrated that it is possible to move beyond the constraints of natural evolution and design entirely new proteins tailored to specific purposes. This shift from studying existing proteins to creating new ones represents a paradigm change in the biological sciences.

The tools and methods developed by Baker and his laboratory, particularly the Rosetta software suite, have become standard resources in the field. Thousands of researchers worldwide use Rosetta for protein structure prediction, protein-protein docking, and protein design. The open-source availability of these tools has accelerated research in structural biology and has enabled advances in drug discovery, vaccine development, and industrial biotechnology.

Baker's creation of Foldit demonstrated that scientific research could be conducted through novel means, engaging the public in the scientific process in unprecedented ways. The success of Foldit helped inspire a broader movement toward citizen science platforms in which non-specialists contribute to research efforts.

The Institute for Protein Design, which Baker founded and directs at the University of Washington, has trained a generation of scientists in the methods of computational protein design. Many of Baker's former students and postdoctoral researchers have gone on to establish their own laboratories and companies, extending the influence of his work across academia and industry. Several biotechnology companies have been founded on the basis of technology developed in Baker's laboratory, translating academic discoveries into commercial applications.

Baker's receipt of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and his 2025 election to the National Academy of Inventors represent the culmination of decades of work that has reshaped how scientists think about and work with proteins. His legacy is one of transforming a fundamental scientific challenge — understanding and controlling protein structure — into a practical engineering discipline with broad applications for human welfare.