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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Ian Sample Science editor

Google DeepMind’s ‘leap forward’ in AI could unlock secrets of biology

An illustration of coils and spirals in various shades of blue and green on a black background
Previous versions of AlphaFold focused on predicting the 3D structures of 200m proteins, the building blocks of life, from their chemical constituents. Photograph: Deepmind AlphaFold/DeepMind.Com

Researchers have hailed another “leap forward” for artificial intelligence after Google DeepMind unveiled the latest version of its AlphaFold program, which can predict how proteins behave in the complex symphony of life.

The breakthrough promises to shed fresh light on the biological machinery that underpins living organisms and drive breakthroughs in fields from antibiotics and cancer therapy to new materials and resilient crops.

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