With an FWF grant at a Nobel Prize laboratory

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the prediction of protein structures with the help of artificial intelligence and computer-aided protein design. Edin Muratspahić, FWF Schrödinger Fellow and postdoc in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate David Baker, shares his experience and explains the significance of the advances for medicine.
Nature and Technology
by Hanna Gabriel
October 14, 2024
Two male researchers sit on a wooden bench in front of an institute building
Schrödinger fellow Edin Muratspahić (right) is working with Nobel laureate David Baker’s team: “For my career, this is a unique opportunity to collaborate with world-famous scientists.” © Ian C. Haydon, UW Institute for Protein Design

With the help of computational protein design researchers can comprehensively redesign the basic building blocks of organisms and produce customized proteins. David Baker from the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his seminal contribution to this field of research. He shares the Prize with Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper from Google DeepMind, who won for 3D protein structure prediction using artificial intelligence. In 2003, Baker was the first to succeed in producing a completely new protein. Since then, his research team has created numerous application-oriented proteins, including drugs, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.
 

Mr Muratspahić, what was the mood like after the Nobel Prize award was announced?

Edin Muratspahić: The mood was celebratory, of course. Our research group consists of around 150 people, which meant we had a big party. Meanwhile we are back at work and have had extensive discussions with David Baker about the fact that the Nobel Prize will open more doors for us as a group. I do research in the medical field and there are numerous diseases for which we can develop new drugs using our methods.

The team produces proteins that do not yet exist in nature. What's so interesting about that?

Muratspahić: Many well-known drugs, such as insulin, are proteins. These proteins often occur in nature and are used as therapeutic agents in their natural form or with chemical modifications. But these possibilities are limited. With “protein design”, we can develop proteins from the word go and intervene in disease processes that we were previously unable to address or at least not adequately. Our method enables us to develop new drugs that are much more specific, effective and safe. In addition, these technologies open up new perspectives in many other areas. For instance, our group produces new materials and develops enzymes that can break down plastics.

How does artificial intelligence, AI for short, help you with this?

Muratspahić: By using AI models we become more efficient and the predicted structures are more accurate. With traditional methods, it used to take months or years to identify a suitable molecule. Today, AI delivers hundreds of thousands of possible designs within a few days. I then select the most promising ones and test them in the lab.

What challenges do you confront in this research field?

Muratspahić: My work is on G protein-coupled receptors, a group of signaling proteins. Around a third of all approved drugs take their effect through these receptors – including for the treatment of pain, diabetes or Parkinson's disease. However, among the 800 or so types of these receptors in our body, there are many that we cannot address with the tools available to date. This is where I use “protein design” to develop ways of influencing the receptors. In this way we can decode the receptors' mechanisms of action and discover new treatment approaches.

David Baker, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2024, was the first to succeed in producing a completely new protein in 2003. Since then, his research team has created numerous application-oriented proteins, including drugs, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

Young male researcher with white lab coat, brown hair and glasses in the lab
Edin Muratspahić is using AI to investigate the discovery and production of new proteins, opening up completely new therapeutic opportunities. © Ian C. Haydon, UW Institute for Protein Design

How did you come to work in David Baker's team?

Muratspahić: Even in my first year as a doctoral student I already knew that I wanted to work in David Baker's laboratory. Thanks to a Marietta Blau Grant from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, I was able to gain my first experience abroad in Australia. I then applied for the FWF Schrödinger Fellowship to continue my research in David Baker's lab. It didn’t work out at the first attempt, but David encouraged me to keep pursuing my idea. When I applied again I was accepted.

What does it mean for your professional career to work in the team of a Nobel Prize winner?

Muratspahić: For my scientific career, this is a unique opportunity to establish collaboration with world-renowned scientists. I would like to bring this network back to Austria to set up my own research group there. It also means a lot to me at a personal level to be part of this passionate research group. I came to Austria from Bosnia at the age of 15 and have invested a lot of time and effort to get where I am today.

What are your next steps?

Muratspahić: I'm currently working on the manuscript for my first publication from the Baker lab. In the long run, I intend to return to Vienna. However, this requires the availability of enough group leader positions to enable young researchers to pursue an academic career in Austria.


Edin Muratspahić is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of David Baker, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington in Seattle. Muratspahić studied at the University of Vienna and at the Medical University of Vienna, where he specialized in signal transmission in cells using G-protein-coupled receptors. The Austrian Science Fund FWF awarded Muratspahić a Schrödinger Fellowship, a grant that enables young researchers working in Austria to work at leading research institutions abroad.