AI untangles one of biology’s great challenges

Scientists have puzzled for half a century over how to accurately and quickly predict which formation – out of an unfathomably large number of possibilities – a protein might take by looking at its amino acid chain, a process that may take years in the laboratory. — AFP Relaxnews

PARIS: For decades scientists have been trying to figure out how to swiftly predict the twisting, tangled shape of proteins – and from there unravel a greater understanding of the machinery of life itself.

This week an Artificial Intelligence program created by Google sister firm DeepMind was shown to have virtually cracked the challenge, forecasting the way in which proteins contort into three dimensional structures in the results of a biannual competition that judges hailed as a game changer.