Search engine for 3-D structure of proteins?

It’s a news about “AI program predicted the 3-D structure of every known protein.” You may recall class materials in biology back in high school. Different proteins have different 3-D structures that produce different functions. All solved. Really? What an accomplishment. Back then, I thought it would be super biologists in super advanced universities who solve all the structural mysteries of the proteins.

But It’s not. It’s an AI startup that sprang from another start-up that originated from search-engine service. Surely the landscape of science has changed so much in the past 35 years.

AI program predicted the 3-D structure of every known proteinてすごいですよね!高校の時に生物の教科書でぼんやり覚えている方もいると思います。プロテインはわかりやすく3次元構造を持っていて、その構造が機能に大きな影響を及ぼす。それを全て解析したっていうんですから、化け物みたいな貢献です。

大昔にこれを知った時は、生物学者が解決するものだと思ってましたが、まさか、検索エンジンからスタートしたスタートアップが解決するとは!たった30数年前のことですが、予想もつきませんでした。

(source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/one-of-the-biggest-problems-in-biology-has-finally-been-solved/)
(pic credit: Unsplash National Cancer Institute)

Leave Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

19 − twelve =