Alphabet’s DeepMind Predicts Nearly All Protein Structures Known to Science

DeepMind revealed the AlphaFold software in 2020.

By Siddhant Chandra | Updated: 28 July 2022 19:23 IST

Alphabet’s DeepMind Predicts Nearly All Protein Structures Known to Science

Photo Credit: DeepMind

The AlphaFold DB includes predicted structures for plants, bacteria, animals, more

Highlights

DeepMind collaborated with EMBL to release these protein structures
These structures are being used to develop malaria vaccine, more
The AlphaFold DB now stores over 200 million predicted structures

Alphabet's DeepMind unveiled its AlphaFold software in 2020, and it has since been used to create the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database (AlphaFold DB). It includes highly accurate protein structures predicted by the software. This database has been accessed by researchers to tackle real-world problems like plastic pollution, antibiotic resistance, and more. DeepMind has now partnered up with European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) to release predicted structures of nearly all catalogued proteins known to science. The AlphaFold DB now reportedly holds over 200 million structures. The applications of these findings across various fields of science are endless.

DeepMind revealed on Thursday that AlphaFold has predicted nearly all proteins known to science. The new predicted proteins include structures of plants, bacteria, animals, and other organisms. These could open new avenues for researchers that are attempting to tackle important issues like sustainability, food insecurity, and neglected diseases.

"...AlphaFold has already accelerated and enabled massive discoveries, including cracking the structure of the nuclear pore complex. And with this new addition of structures illuminating nearly the entire protein universe, we can expect more biological mysteries to be solved each day, " said Eric Topol, Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

Researchers Develop Quantum Cryptography That Is Immune to Hacking Attempts

The AlphaFold DB works similar to the Google search engine for researchers. It provides them instant access to predicted models of proteins. These models have been reportedly cited in important research like finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease and developing a malaria vaccine.

Scientists in US Hack Fruit Flies' Brains to Make Them Remote-Controlled

CEO of DeepMind Demis Hassabis believes, "...[that] AI might turn out to be just the right technique to cope with the dynamic complexity of biology." According to the company, over 500,000 researchers across 190 countries have accessed AlphaFold DB. The company has also partnered up with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI) for "finding life-saving cures for diseases like Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease that disproportionately affect people in poorer parts of the world."

Why is Oppo making strange choices with its flagship Reno series? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.