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Knowing 3D shape of any protein to become as simple as typing in Google search

The shape and structure of around 200 million proteins from some one million species have been reportedly determined by artificial intelligence (AI), according to a write-up by Ewen Callaway in the journal 'Nature'.

Henceforth, discerning the 3D shape of almost any protein known to science will be as simple as typing in a Google search.

This has been made possible by DeepMind's AlphaFold, the revolutionary AI network, and the data is freely available on a website, opening up a whole new universe of digital biology.

The 3D shape, or structure, of a protein is what determines its function in cells. Most drugs are designed using structural information, and the creation of accurate maps of proteins' amino-acid arrangement is often the first step to making discoveries about how proteins work, says the report.

It may not be very long before the contours of our thoughts get mapped as well - looking at the way science is advancing by leaps and bounds. If thoughts could be mapped, a day may dawn when AI could break down the workings of the firing of neurons in the brain, and throw open secrets to what makes us think the kind of thoughts we have, so we may get an idea of how our mind works.

Then we will be a step away from understanding whether 'I think, therefore I am' or 'I think, therefore I think I am'. It might open up a Pandora's box of existential questions, for sure.