AI-Designed Proteins Could Revolutionize Medicine- The Future of Medicine

(Image credit- News Medical) A protein that has never been created by evolution in its three billion-plus years of tinkering is about to be created by David Juergens, a computational chemist at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. On a video chat, Juergens launches a cloud-based version of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool he helped to design, called RFdiffusion. This neural network, and others like it, are helping to bring the synthesis of bespoke proteins until recently a highly specialized and sometimes failed quest to mainstream science. These proteins could form the basis for vaccinations, medicines, and biomaterials. “It’s been a completely transformative moment,” says Gevorg Grigoryan, the co-founder and chief technical officer of Generate Biomedicines in Somerville, Massachusetts, a biotechnology startup using protein design to medication development. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="976"] Image credit- BBC News[/caption]

AI Algorithm

The tools are inspired by AI software that synthesizes realistic visuals, such as the Midjourney software that, this year, was notably used to make a viral image of Pope Francis donning a designer white puffer jacket. A similar conceptual technique, researchers have found, can churn out realistic protein shapes to criteria that designers define meaning, for instance, that it’s possible to swiftly draw up new proteins that should attach closely to another biomolecule. And early trials reveal that when researchers create these proteins, a useful fraction actually operates as the algorithms suggest. The tools have transformed the process of designing proteins in the past year, researchers say. “It is an explosion in capabilities,” says Mohammed AlQuraishi, a computational biologist at Columbia University in New York City, whose team has built one such tool for protein creation. “You can now create designs that have sought-after qualities.” For the first time, protein designers now have the kinds of replicable and robust tools around which a new business may be formed, Grigoryan says. “The next challenge becomes, what do you do with it?” [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1980"] Image credit- The Scientist Magazine®[/caption]

Grand designs

Juergens uploads a few criteria for the protein he wants onto a web form resembling an online tax calculator. It must be 100 amino acids long and form a symmetrical two-protein complex called a homodimer. Many cell receptors assume this structure and a novel homodimer may be a synthetic cell-signaling molecule, chimes in Joe Watson, a UW computational biochemist who co-developed RFdiffusion and is also on the video chat. But this morning’s design isn’t designed to do anything except resemble a realistic protein. Researchers have worked for decades to develop novel proteins. At first, they tried to cobble together valuable portions of existing proteins, such as a pocket of an enzyme in which a chemical process is catalyzed. Also read: Apple Vision Pro Headgear is poised to revolutionize the domain of surgery and medicine This strategy relied on understanding how proteins fold up and work, as well as intuition and a lot of trial and error. Scientists occasionally evaluated thousands of prototypes to locate one that worked as planned.