Nobel Prizes honour AI pioneers and pioneering AI
Protein structure is not trivial. The shape determines the function—whether the protein becomes haemoglobin, hair, hormone, or horn. One way to figure out the shape of a given protein is guesswork: you could try every possible combination that the chain of amino acids could twist and fold itself into. The downside to this approach is that it takes longer than the age of the universe. An experimental approach is a better bet. It typically takes around a year, with some luck, a lot of trial and error, and a fair bit of frustration.
