Shared blueprint in aphid proteins helps AI predict their structures
BiologyAgriculture
THE AI ANGLE
Predicting structures of fast-evolving insect proteinsResearchers gathered and sequenced aphid genomes to supply evolutionary data to AlphaFold2. The AI used this context to predict the structures of about 2,400 fast-evolving proteins that aphids inject into plants. The approach gives biologists a path to model rapidly changing proteins that shape plant-pest interactions.
THE TEACHING ANGLE
AlphaFold2 failed to predict structures without evolutionary data from related species, showing the tool's reliance on field collection and sequencing.Read the original at phys.org Generate teaching or study materials
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