AI predicts the shape of molecules, in a boon for medicine and drug design

DeepMind has given 3-D structure to 350,000 proteins, including every one made by humans

For some years now John McGeehan, a biologist and the director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation in Portsmouth, England, has been searching for a molecule that could break down the 150 million tonnes of soda bottles and other plastic waste strewn across the globe.

Working with researchers on both sides of the Atlantic, he has found a few good options. But his task is that of the most demanding locksmith: to pinpoint the chemical compounds that on their own will twist and fold into the microscopic shape that can fit perfectly into the molecules of a plastic bottle and