Proteins are large molecules made from the linking together of specific sequences of amino acids.
A key to the multitude of chemical tasks performed by proteins is that their chains of amino acids can bend and twist, enabling a protein molecule to fold over and around itself. Understanding the mysteries of protein folding may make it possible for scientists to repair defective proteins that cause disease and other health problems, and to design new and improved synthetic proteins for biotechnical applications. Such understanding will also enable scientists to more quickly apply the knowledge gained from the Human Genome Project. However, it is not certain you can make algorithms that predict protein structures from primary sequences without a better understanding of the forces that drive folding. Head-Gordon is taking a holistic approach to unraveling the mysteries of protein folding.