David Baker has a problem most scientists would envy: his research keeps turning into companies.

The University of Washington biochemist, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024 for his work on computational protein design, has become one of the most prolific academic entrepreneurs in the country. Companies spun out of his lab — including Arzeda, Monod Bio, and the Institute for Protein Design's latest ventures — have collectively raised over $1 billion and are developing everything from new cancer therapeutics to sustainable industrial enzymes.

"We figured out how to design proteins from scratch," Baker says with characteristic understatement. "Now we're figuring out what to do with that."

What his team is doing with it is staggering. Using AI models trained on the structures of hundreds of millions of proteins, Baker's lab can now design molecules that don't exist in nature — proteins engineered to bind specific drug targets, catalyze industrial reactions, or serve as the building blocks of entirely new materials.

The applications read like science fiction: custom-designed antibodies that could treat diseases resistant to current therapies. Enzymes that break down plastic waste into reusable chemicals. Protein-based sensors that detect pollutants at parts-per-trillion concentrations. All of it designed on computers and validated in the lab, sometimes in weeks rather than years.

For Seattle and the broader Pacific Northwest, Baker's work represents the convergence of the region's two great strengths: biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The UW's Institute for Protein Design, which Baker directs, has become a magnet for talent, drawing researchers from around the world who want to work at the frontier of computational biology.

The economic impact is already visible. Baker-affiliated startups employ hundreds of people in the Seattle area, and the pipeline of new ventures shows no signs of slowing. The next generation of companies emerging from the lab are focused on drug discovery — using AI-designed proteins to create therapeutics that would be impossible to find through traditional screening methods.

"Twenty years ago, people thought designing proteins was a curiosity," Baker says. "Now it's an industry. And it's just getting started."