AlphaFold's new rival? Meta AI predicts shape of 600 million proteins

The ESM Metagenomic Atlas database contains structure predictions for 617 million proteins.Credit: ESM Metagenomic Atlas (CC BY 4.0) When London-based Deep Mind unveiled predicted structures for some 220 million proteins this year, it covered nearly every protein from known organisms in DNA databases. Now, another tech giant is filling in the dark matter of our protein universe. Researchers at Meta (formerly Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park, California) have used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the structures of some 600 million proteins from bacteria, viruses and other microbes that haven't been characterized. 'It will change everything': DeepMind's AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures "These are the structures we know the least about. These are incredibly mysterious proteins. I think they offer the potential for great insight into biology," says Alexander Rives, the research lead for Meta AI's protein team.