Part 3/6:
In recent years, Google’s AI model, AlphaFold, made headlines by solving this longstanding problem. It demonstrated the capacity to accurately predict the three-dimensional structures of proteins from their amino acid sequences. This achievement was heralded as one of the most significant breakthroughs in biology of our generation because it unlocked the ability to understand protein function at an unprecedented scale and speed.
By predicting protein structures swiftly and reliably, AlphaFold opened new pathways for scientists to delve into biological processes, disease mechanisms, and potential therapies—all through computational predictions. This has fundamentally accelerated research timelines and lowered costs associated with molecular discovery.