PROGRESS THROUGH AI

                     OUR SKINNY PHASE

                                              Cat is Whiskers

The Economist has given us an interesting and useful look at some basic biology that you probably already know.  Here it is.  Read it anyway.

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/11/30/how-do-proteins-fold 

So, the body makes proteins by first “reading” an appropriate stretch of DNA to create messenger RNA (mRNA).  The mRNA next travels to the nearest available ribosome, where it in turn is “read”, producing a string of amino acids that we call proteins.  As you know, proteins do everything worth doing in the body – and some that are not worth doing; the “spikes” that attach the coronavirus to our cells are proteins.

You probably also are aware that the function of a protein depends on its shape.  What happens is that the chain of amino acids folds itself into a particular shape in response to the electrostatic forces between elements of the chain.  As many proteins are thousands of amino acids in length, heretofore it has been difficult, if not downright impossible, to predict a folded final configuration from an arbitrary string of amino acids.  Now, however, some disgustingly smart people have devised a way to do just that, using artificial intelligence (AI), often called machine learning.  Potentially, this is hot stuff, medicine wise, because it will allow us to craft our own, artificial, proteins to do specific tasks in the body.  Like. Kill cancer cells.  More progress.