Short Wave How AI Is Cracking The Biology Code
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May 13, 2024 
Burley McCoy, a producer with expertise in AI and protein science, discusses the revolutionary role of artificial intelligence in understanding proteins—the building blocks of life. He highlights AlphaFold3, a cutting-edge AI program that predicts protein structures with unprecedented accuracy. The conversation also explores how AI can tackle global issues like disease and climate change. McCoy elaborates on the intricacies of protein folding and the innovative potential of AI in designing new proteins that could transform medicine and sustainability.
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Protein Competition
- Scientists compete every other year to predict protein shapes.
- In 2020, AlphaFold2, Google DeepMind's AI, significantly outperformed all other competitors.
Protein Folding Complexity
- A protein's shape is determined by the many ways its amino acid "beads" can fold.
- The vast number of folding possibilities, exceeding the stars in the sky, makes protein shape prediction complex.
AlphaFold2's Impact on Research
- AlphaFold2 accelerated research on bacterial flagellum, a complex protein structure.
- Julian Bergeron's lab saw immediate progress on numerous projects after using AlphaFold2.