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AI technology that enabled a computer to defeat chess grandmasters has now been employed to help biologists in an arguably more complex task: predicting how a protein folds – a problem that has eluded them for 50 years.
Proteins are the workhorses of the cell and regulate all the ongoing chemistry and communication in living organisms. Consisting of thousands of atoms, they have a complex three-dimensional structure that is essential for performing their function. If the protein has the wrong shape, it can’t do its job. And that can cause disease or even death.
But with the assistance of DeepMind, researchers believe they can now accurately predict a protein’s shape. Marc Zimmer, a professor of chemistry at Connecticut College, explains how this could have profound implications for creating new drugs and understanding diseases as disparate as Alzheimer’s and cystic fibrosis.
Also today:
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A simple chain of amino acids folds into a complex three-dimensional structure.
Marc Zimmer, Connecticut College
Scientists in an artificial intelligence lab have made a breakthrough in solving the problem of how proteins fold into their final three-dimensional shape. The work could speed up creation of drugs.
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Health
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Sarah Hillyer, University of Tennessee; Carolyn Spellings, University of Tennessee
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Lisa Hardy, Northern Arizona University; Gwendolyn Saul, Northern Arizona University; Kerry F. Thompson, Northern Arizona University
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Arts + Culture
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Nicole S Maskiell, University of South Carolina
US monuments and memorials have overlooked frontline workers and people of color affected by past epidemics. Will we repeat history?
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Politics/Election '20
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Robert Kozinets, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
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Ethics + Religion
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Kate Padgett Walsh, Iowa State University
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Brian Grodsky, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Video
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Emily Godbey, Iowa State University
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Eugene Y. Chan, Purdue University
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Zachary Brewster, Wayne State University
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Margot Gage Witvliet, Lamar University
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