Revolutionizing Drug Discovery: AlphaFold Unveils Insights into Millions of Proteins
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Nature.com
Google Deepmind's AlphaFold, an AI program that accurately predicts the 3D shapes of proteins, has sparked excitement in the field of drug discovery. Biotech firm Recursion recently used AlphaFold to calculate how potential drug compounds could bind to human proteins, but some scientists remain skeptical about the quality and usefulness of these predictions. While AlphaFold's protein structure predictions are impressive, they may not accurately predict ligand binding, and the lack of validation data and transparency from companies like Recursion raises concerns. Other AI programs, such as RoseTTAFold and DragonFold, are also being developed to improve protein-drug binding predictions. The challenge lies in identifying compounds that bind strongly to proteins with limited knowledge, and validation in the lab is crucial for progress in this field.