Latest posts
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Introducing our Audacious Project
We’ve been selected to join The Audacious Project, a philanthropic collaborative organized by TED. Read all about our project here. In short, we’re expanding our institute into a global hub of innovation so that protein design can be applied to help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Our…
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Designing a stable and potent RSV vaccine candidate
Today we report in Cell our first computer-designed nanoparticle vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus, the primary cause of pneumonia in young children and the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide after malaria. Although virtually every child will get infected by RSV before the age of three, an estimated 99 percent…
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Potent anti-cancer proteins with fewer side effects
Today we report in Nature the first de novo designed proteins with anti-cancer activity. These compact molecules were designed to stimulate the same receptors as IL-2, a powerful immunotherapeutic drug, while avoiding unwanted off-target receptor interactions. We believe this is just the first of many computer-generated cancer drugs with enhanced specificity and potency.…
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Our publication was voted ‘2018 Reader’s Choice’ by Nature News & Views
Readers of Nature News & Views selected an article about our work as their 2018 Reader’s Choice. The article, written by Roberto Chica of the University of Ottawa, details our recent publication on de novo fluorescence-activating proteins and explores the challenges of de novo protein design more generally. From the…
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New designer proteins mimic DNA
To close out the year, Baker Lab scientists published a new report describing the creation of proteins that mimic DNA. We believe this breakthrough will aid the creation of bioactive nanomachines. DNA is a widely used building material at the nanoscale because it is simple and predictable: A pairs with…
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How synthetic biology could treat celiac disease
Dr. Ingrid Pultz, an IPD Translational Investigator and Chief Scientific Officer at PvP Biologics, has written a special report for the American Council on Science and Health about how protein design is being used to help fight celiac disease. Pultz describes how an international competition, a video game, and venture…
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Rolling out new jellies
The basic parts of proteins — helices, strands and loops — can be combined in countless ways. But certain combinations are trickier than others. This week scientists from the IPD, along with collaborators in Brno and Santa Cruz, published the first-ever example of designed non-local beta-strand interactions. Beta-sheet proteins carry…
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Fluorescent proteins designed from scratch
In the summer of 1961, Osamu Shimomura drove across the country in a cramped station wagon to scoop jellyfish from the docks of Friday Harbor. He wanted to discover what made them glow. It took Shimomura and other biochemists more 30 years to find a full answer. By then, recombinant…
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2018 IPD Newsletter from David Baker
It was a great year for the Institute for Protein Design and we couldn’t have done all of our amazing work without the support from our donors and contributors! Thank you to everyone who helped us, whether through a donation, collaboration, playing Foldit, or otherwise. We’ve filled the IPD Newsletter…
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Open Philanthropy awards $11.3 million to the Institute for Protein Design
The funds will support our technological revolution in protein design and enable the development of a universal flu vaccine. The $11.3 gift is one of the largest made to date by the San Francisco-based philanthropy in support of science. It is also the first to go to UW Medicine. The…