Part 2/13:
AlphaFold's core function is to predict the three-dimensional folding structure of proteins based solely on their amino acid sequences. While this task might seem straightforward, it has historically challenged scientists due to the immense complexity of protein structures, often involving hundreds or thousands of atoms. Prior to AlphaFold, projects like Folding@home relied on distributed computing efforts to simulate protein folding, but these efforts still fell short of the accuracy and efficiency achieved by AlphaFold.