By Ayo Onikoyi

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry spotlighted computational protein science, honouring breakthroughs in computational protein design and AI-enabled protein structure prediction.

These advancements offer revolutionary potentials for medicine and biotechnology, paving the way for life-saving therapies and sustainable industrial solutions. Investing in these innovations could transform Nigeria’s healthcare, boost biotechnology industries, and position it as a leader in the African scientific community.

While these breakthroughs are shaping global science, US-based Nigerian researcher Dr. Abeeb Abiodun Yekeen has published research works that showcase how the advancements can be applied to solve real-world problems. Dr. Yekeen, a researcher with over a decade of expertise in protein science, emphasizes why Nigeria should seize the current opportunity. With a master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China, Dr. Yekeen is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Departments of Biochemistry and Radiation Oncology of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His research is at the intersection of cancer drug discovery and computational structural biology, utilizing Nobel-winning protein design and structure prediction methods.

“Protein design, engineering, and modelling have come of age, and Nigeria should be a player in the game,” Abeeb stated. He pointed out that state-of-the-art computational tools allow scientists to predict protein structures and design new ones tailored for specific functions, enabling advancements in medicine, biotechnology, and beyond.

Dr. Yekeen’s recent study, “Simultaneous positive and negative selection of proteases in bacterium based on cell suicide and antibiotic resistance”, published in the Biotechnology Journal, introduced PASCAR, a novel method for engineering protease specificity. The study also presented a computational approach to reprogram protease specificity for custom substrates with PASCAR used to rapidly evaluate designed proteases. “Interestingly, Rosetta, one of the tools we utilized in our computational approach, was particularly important for the protein design portion of the 2024 Nobel Prize”, he added. “Proteases are molecular scissors that cut proteins into smaller pieces, crucial for processes like digestion, immune defence, and cell repair. With a market valued at $3.5 billion in 2024 and projected to grow to $4.7 billion by 2029, proteases dominate 60% of the enzyme market, indicating their vast therapeutic and industrial applications. Reprogramming proteases to target specific substrates offers enormous potentials in healthcare and biotechnology”, he noted.

Abeeb stressed the transformative potential of protein design and structure prediction for addressing global challenges, from developing life-saving drugs to creating sustainable industrial solutions. “To benefit from the global protein science revolution, now is the time for Nigeria to act by investing in research, fostering collaborations, and nurturing homegrown expertise to position itself at the forefront of this transformative field in Africa”, Dr. Yekeen concluded.