Bioengineering Lecture

Protein structure prediction and protein design are inverse problems.   While ab initio protein structure prediction remains a formidable challenge, the global energy optimization approaches developed for structure prediction are proving very useful for protein structure determination from sparse experimental data.  I will describe in particular recent progress in structure determination from low resolution X-ray crystallographic data, 4-6Å cryoEM data, and evolutionary covariation data.   Global energy optimization is also proving very useful for protein design, and I will describe how this is allowing robust design of new structures.  Finally, I will describe unexpected scientific contributions of players of the on-line protein folding and design game FoldIt.