A certain DeepMind AI known as AlphaFold has gotten closer to the perfect prediction of protein folding with groundbreaking accuracy. The DeepMind AI was able to predict the structure of proteins with an unrivaled accuracy outside of actually dissecting them with the use of an x-ray.
AlphaFold Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction CASP
According to a story by FreeThink, the success actually comes in the 14th round of the new Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction or CASP. This is a competition that tasks different teams with predicting the actual structure of proteins through just their amino acid sequences.
John Moult, the University of Maryland's co-founder and chair of CASP gave a statement in a press release. His statement notes that proteins are actually extremely complicated molecules and their very own precise three-dimensional structure is actually key to a number of roles that they perform.
AlphaFold CASP Solution Accuracy
An example of this is insulin that is capable of regulating sugar levels in one's blood as well as antibodies that are capable of helping humans fight infections. It was noted that even small rearrangements of these particular molecules could actually have catastrophic effects on one's health.
It was noted that one of the most efficient ways to understand disease as well as finding new treatments is to actually study the proteins that are involved. AlphaFold's own accuracy was pretty high enough that CASP had even called it a solution to the whole protein folding problem. Human protein is also said to deliver mRNA to the body, which can actually be used to treat multiple diseases.
Proteins Made Up of 20 Different Amino Acids
It was noted that proteins are really fundamental to life, viruses, or something similar. They are reportedly made up of long strings of about 20 different amino acids which are then coded for in DNA. Just by knowing what a certain protein's genetic code is still does not mean prediction of what it would look like.
Although DNA still tells a protein's amino acid ingredients, it won't really tell how all of those ingredients would fit together in a 3D object. A protein's own structure is a complex, 3D tangle of ribbons, vines, as well as curly fries. The amino acids fold up in what was noted as very specific ways to make its even more specific forms.
Protein Folding
Protein folding is the only way that they are able to work. If they won't be folded correctly, or be folded at all, the consequences can be quite severe. There are now certain devices that can manipulate milk protein like the Vortex Fluidic Device.
While it is known that a lot of genetic codes as well as the amino codes that they are used for, being actually able to make the leap from the acids to what they look like in 3D protein structure is still a long, complicated, and expensive process. The larger and more complex a protein is, the more difficult it will become.
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Written by Urian B.
