Part 2/6:
To appreciate why AlphaFold 3 is such a game-changer, it's essential to grasp the basics of protein biology. All living organisms are composed of proteins—long chains of amino acids whose specific sequences determine their unique functions. The function of a protein is intricately linked to how it folds into three-dimensional structures within the body.
This folding process is crucial—misfolded proteins can lead to diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer, and other serious conditions. Historically, predicting how a protein folds based solely on its amino acid sequence has been an enormously complex challenge, often taking years of experimentation.