New proteome database to speed up drug discovery by years

The news

DeepMind, the Alphabet-owned AI company, predicted the molecular structure of 350,000 proteins, including nearly every protein in the human body. Findings were recently published in a public database, in collaboration with the European Bioinformatics Institute.

Dr. Ewan Birney, Director of the institute, said the AlphaFold predicted structures were "one of the most important datasets since the mapping of the human genome." Protein structures can provide invaluable information, both for reasoning about biological processes and for enabling interventions such as structure-based drug development or targeted mutagenesis.

Read more on STAT.

Why it matters

According to researchers, the database could accelerate drug discovery by years, providing a significant push for AI-driven drug discovery in general. “Whenever there’s a breakthrough, I think rising tides lift all boats. And this opens up a super-exciting era in structure-driven drug design,” said Abraham Heifets, CEO of AI-driven drug discovery company Atomwise.