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The 45th Annual Meeting of MBSJ
October 2021
A competition of protein 3D structure prediction. It is about how similar the predictions are to the correct answer (the actual experimental result), which is slightly to the right of the center. The prediction placed on the left of the correct answer was done by an AI, and won the first prize. AI has made remarkable progress in recent years, and in a contest held in 2020 (CASP14), the predictions made by AlphaFold 2, an AI developed by DeepMind, finally reached a level comparable to actual experimental results. The 3D structures shown here were drawn with PyMOL based on the PDB files of target ID T1053 and its prediction models downloaded from CASP14 website (https://www.predictioncenter.org/casp14/index.cgi).
September 2021
Advances in optogenetic techniques, in which light-activated proteins that respond to specific wavelengths are expressed in specific cells, have made it possible to manipulate the activity of specific nerves in many animal species including mammals with high temporal and spatial precision. The method of using optical fiber for light irradiation (right) is highly invasive and restricts behavior of animal. However, new methods to overcome this problem have emerged. Some examples are a method of using implantable wireless light-emitting devices (top left), and a method of injecting upconversion nanoparticles that emit visible light in response to near-infrared (NIR) lights that reach deep into the body (center; the light emitted from Uchide-no-kozuchi (magic mallet) of Daikokuten is NIR).
