protein folding Archives

Meta’s protein-folding AI reminds us it’s not just a metaverse firm

Meta has unveiled a new protein-folding AI that could be revolutionary for science and the development of new medicines.

Facebook, as the company was known before changing its name, has always been seen as a leader in AI. The popular open-source framework PyTorch was Facebook’s creation and earlier this year Meta became a founding member of a foundation aiming to drive the adoption of AI.

In its pursuit to become a leader in the metaverse, changing its very company...

2 November 2022 | Applications

DeepMind releases AlphaFold database of nearly all human protein structures

British artificial intelligence giant DeepMind has released a database of nearly all human protein structures that it amassed as part of its AlphaFold program.

Last year, the organisers of the biennial Critical Assessment of protein Structure Prediction (CASP) recognised AlphaFold as a solution to the grand challenge of figuring out what shapes proteins fold into.

Professor John Moult, Co-founder and Chair of CASP, University of Maryland, said:

“We have been...

23 July 2021 | Healthcare

DeepMind is using AI for protein folding breakthroughs

Protein folding could help diagnose and treat some of the worst diseases, and DeepMind believes AI can speed up that process. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and cystic fibrosis are suspected to be caused by misfolded proteins. Being able to predict a protein’s shape enables a greater understanding of its role within the body. Previous techniques used for determining the shapes of proteins – such as cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and...