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Tracing proteins back to origins of life

AlphaFold: Impact stories

Scientists are using AlphaFold to accelerate research in nearly every field of biology.

Over 2 million researchers in over 190 countries are using the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database to inform their research.

  • Up to 1 billion

    Research years saved by AlphaFold database structures

  • Over 600,000

    Users in low and middle income countries

  • 21%

    Of papers citing AlphaFold are related to the study of disease

Explore some of their stories

From building more effective malaria vaccines to breaking down single-use plastics, AlphaFold is helping scientists accelerate research in nearly every field of biology.

It normally takes four years to identify and characterise one of these small proteins. With the help of AlphaFold we managed 23 in a few months.

Professor Renier van der Hoorn
University of Oxford

AlphaFold has allowed us to take our project to the next level, from a fundamental science stage to the preclinical and clinical development stage.

Professor Matthew Higgins
Biochemist

AlphaFold tools

AlphaFold Database and Server are freely available to the scientific community.

AlphaFold Protein Structure Database

View over 200 million protein structure predictions to support your research.

AlphaFold Server

Predict the structure and interactions of all life’s molecules with unprecedented accuracy.

Explore our other teams and product areas

Tracing proteins back to origins of life
28 July 2022

Tracing proteins back to origins of life

Scientists have used AlphaFold to peer back in time, comparing 3D shapes of proteins and tracing their evolution back through millions of years.

This research aims to uncover why changes in DNA result in differences in traits – such as being predisposed to certain diseases. The ultimate goal is to create a model that can predict how a person might respond if they carry a mutation in a particular position in their DNA.

There’s a long way to go before that model is built. But AlphaFold is helping science take significant steps forward.

Research credits

  • Professor Pedro Beltrao, ETH Zurich