In the future, it should be possible to start from a three-dimensional molecular scafold designed on a computer and employ AI to calculate a sequence of amino acids that will precisely assemble into the desired structure with the desired molecular function.
Once this sequence of amino acids has been determined, my area of research comes into play. My work deals with the development of artificial genes and genomes, and it also employs computer algorithms. Based on sequences of amino acids, we calculate how protein information can be encoded into sequences of genetic building blocks – in other words into DNA. And we do it in a way that provides a simple means of synthesising these genes for practical applications.
Reversing the information flow
This means we are on the verge of being able to calculate an artificial gene for any given three-dimensional protein structure designed on a computer, and then synthesise that gene. In biotechnology, this paves the way for manufacturing artificial proteins in microorganisms – including new pharmaceutical agents, vaccines or enzymes for use in industry.
Ever since the earliest lifeforms emerged several billion years ago, to this day biological information has always been stored in the form of DNA. Inside biological cells, this information is transcribed– first into RNA molecules, and then translated into proteins. Until now, there has been no mechanism for reversing the flow of information such that protein information is translated back into DNA information. AI will soon change all that. For biologists such as myself, this is an incredibly spectacular development, one that will have a profound impact on biotechnology and medicine.
