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. [1]

Figure 1. Alphabet’s DeepMind Predicts nearly all Protein Structures known to Science

Figure 1 shows some proteins are helpful, such as those involved in digesting food while others can be harmful, such as those involved in the growth of tumors. Figuring out their complicated wriggly shapes, however, is difficult. Molecular biologists can spend years conducting experiments to decipher a protein's structure, and AlphaFold can do this in minutes, depending on how large the molecule is, from the amino acid composition. [2]

Last year, DeepMind released the source code of AlphaFold and made the structures of 1 million proteins, including nearly every protein in the human body, available in its AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. The database was built together with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, an international public research institute that already hosts a large database of protein information. [3]

Having easy access to predicted protein structures gives scientists a boost in research efforts across the scientific landscape — like those trying to understand how complex processes work in the body or which molecules can be used to target things like pollution. [4]

References:

1. https://gadgets360.com/science/news/google-deepmind-alphafold-protein-structure-european-molecular-biology-laboratory-3203004
2. https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/28/deepmind_alphafold_protein_folding/
3. https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/28/1056510/deepmind-predicted-the-structure-of-almost-every-protein-known-to-science/
4. https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/28/23280743/deepmind-alphafold-protein-database-alphabet

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Alphabet’s DeepMind Predicts nearly all Protein Structures known to Science, Anatechmaz, pp.179