Scientists like Peter Kollman are the code breakers, trying to uncover a set of rules somehow embedded in a protein's sequence of amino acids. This chemical alphabet of 20 characters, strung like beads on a chain along the peptide backbone of a newborn protein, carries a blueprint that specifies the protein's mature folded shape.
Proteins are the action superheroes of the body.
As enzymes, they make reactions go a million times faster. As versatile transport vehicles, they carry oxygen and antibodies to fight disease. They do a thousand different jobs, and with no complaint. But before a protein can go to work, it must fold into the right shape. To be able to predict the structure of the protein from just the amino-acid sequence would have tremendous impact in all of biotechnology and drug design.