Pichai¡¯s DeepMind AI Solves 50-Year-Old Problem, By Unlocking Mysteries Of Protein
To the uninitiated, protein folding is, basically when a protein is made, it usually emerges in the form of a long string. However, for this string to be used by the body, it needs to fold three-dimensionally. The shape that they make is what enters and exits a particular cell.
Alphabet¡¯s DeepMind has achieved a groundbreaking breakthrough in the field of AI-based protein structure prediction.
The AI company has revealed that its AlphaFold system has managed to solve a 50-year old mystery pertaining to protein folding.
Reuters
To the uninitiated, protein folding is, basically when a protein is made, it usually emerges in the form of a long string. However, for this string to be used by the body, it needs to fold three-dimensionally. The shape that they make is what enters and exits a particular cell.
Cracking the mystery of this protein shape will allow future drug makers to find a solution to a disease. Understanding a protein¡¯s shape can help researchers stop a disease from transmitting or stop in case of neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders, correct the mistakes and offer people a new lease on life. Doing this is a complex and time-consuming task.
However, DeepMind¡¯s AlphaFold has used AI to correctly figure out the structure of the protein in a matter of days.
In case you¡¯re wondering that you¡¯ve heard about protein folding before, you¡¯re not wrong. In the initial days of the pandemic, Folding@Home allowed people to help share their system¡¯s compute power with researchers to help them crack the SARS CoV-2 code. However, DeepMind¡¯s application is more standalone.
DeepMind makes use of an ¡®Attention-based neural network system¡¯, which in layman¡¯s terms is basically a neural network that concentrates on specific inputs to multiply the efficiency. The system is able to continuously adapt and refine its predictive graph of possible protein folding outcomes, looking at their history, and delivering very accurate predictions most of the time.
AFP
Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai said in a statement on Twitter, announcing this groundbreaking discovery, ¡°@DeepMind's incredible AI-powered protein folding breakthrough will help us better understand one of life¡¯s fundamental building blocks + enable researchers to tackle new and hard problems, from fighting diseases to environmental sustainability.¡±
DeepMind¡¯s edge in cracking the code of the proteins in a shorter span of time could help the world better prepare against potential pandemics, like the SARS CoV-2, and help scientists prepare a solution to help save lives of millions around the world.
