In the 20th century, groundbreaking biological techniques such as DNA sequencing, PCR and new imaging methods permanently changed the face of healthcare. Now, we can see artificial intelligence beginning to do the same. It holds the potential to handle the huge biological datasets generated by technology, and even predict the structure of proteins, potentially unlocking a cure for hundreds of diseases.
Just last week Google’s DeepMinds AlphaFold3. This updated software uses AI to predict protein structure. These predictions reach an unprecedented degree of accuracy.
DNA has a specific sequence of bases, which, like an instruction manual, code for a sequence of amino acids. These amino acids join together in the encoded order and fold in a specific fashion to form a protein. Proteins are fundamental to life and all cellular processes.
AlphaFold3 can predict their 3D structure and associated residual groups or nucleotides based on only the input amino acid sequence. “The cubic millimetre contained around 150 million synapses, so this would be virtually impossible without AI” Understanding protein structure is crucial to better treat many diseases, including cancer. ‘Cancer’ refers to any disease in which regulation of cell division goes wrong and it therefore becomes uncontrollable, and as such is an incredibly diverse disease.
This is partly what makes it so difficult to treat. Understanding protein structures involved in signalling pathways in cell division and how .