Going for Fold

For generations, scientists have struggled to follow the steps that shape life. Alphafold, a project that recently won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, may be a giant leap ahead. Researchers use artificial intelligence to predict how proteins – the tiny machines with specific shapes set to tasks inside our cells – take shape from their amino acid building blocks. Similar perhaps to predicting a castle, pirate ship or bunch of flowers from a pile of Lego bricks (although ~100 million times smaller), at least the algorithms have some rules to guide them. Here they simulate the natural steps of protein synthesis – taking a virtual chain of amino acids and folding it up based on how different amino acids interact chemically. Researchers believe this predicted protein protects the malaria-carrying parasite Plasmodium falciparum from our immune defences. The next step is to scour the 3D structure for weaknesses, while Alphafold continues its predictions.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database
• EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire and Google DeepMind, London, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Research referenced published in Nature Communications, May 2024