AlphaZero

Takeaways A “deep learning” software program from Google-owned lab DeepMind showed great progress in solving one of biology’s greatest challenges – understanding protein folding. Protein folding is the process by which a protein takes its shape from a string of building blocks to its final three-dimensional structure, which determines its function. By better predicting how proteins take their structure, or “fold,” scientists can more quickly develop drugs that, for example, block the action of crucial viral proteins. Solving what biologists call “the protein-folding problem” is a big deal. Proteins are the workhorses of cells and are present in all living…