At the heart of biology is the study of three-dimensional shapes and their interactions in the fourth dimension of time. For example, we may imagine DNA as a string, but we primarily understand the different 3D shapes it can take and how they interact with the many other molecular shapes that drive its function. That’s it. Proteins, cells, tissues, organs, and entire organisms ultimately all interact and constantly change shapes of various kinds, some more symbolic than others ( For example, heart-shaped candy is always welcome, but pancreas-shaped candy is totally disgusting). .
This point was brought into stark relief by a paper published last Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature By a group of scientists from Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs.The author has updated the latest version of An AI-based software package named “AlphaFold”. While the first version of AlphaFold was a breakthrough in predicting the three-dimensional shape of proteins (basically sequences of amino acids), this new version is “structure-predictable.” and interaction We have analyzed every molecule of life with unprecedented precision” (emphasis added).
AlphaFold 3 is undoubtedly a major advance and has immediate benefits for drug discovery. After all, a drug is nothing more than a chemical form introduced into an organism to interact with its own chemical form to alter disease progression, and preferably with other “off-target” forms of the organism. avoid interactions and the occurrence of adverse side effects. But for now, AlphaFold only takes momentary snapshots of molecular interactions, so I think the more dynamic, large-scale shape interactions of life will not be predictable in the near future, with or without AI. I’m pretty sure.
please think about it. As biological beings, we humans live at multiple levels of space and time, some of which we experience directly and some of which we cannot. When I type on this keyboard, my number-like “finger” shapes hit the buttons in a patterned manner, creating a meaningful (perhaps ) form connections. To read the output of this tapping, yet another multilevel set of interacting shapes (lens, cornea, etc.) are optimized to gather and focus light onto oddly shaped cells in the retina. Is required. These cells interact in unique ways to form changing signals. There are other shapes in different parts of your brain that will eventually lead to your own thoughts about my ramblings. In fact, almost every life experience you can think of is a cascade of shapes interacting and changing in micro and macro physical space and time. In a sense, death is simply the calcification and decay of form and the silencing of interaction.
This idea of shape and interaction extends beyond biology. Most of us have probably experienced a period in our growth when we felt like we didn’t “fit in.” The shapes of our bodies and minds did not seem to mesh with the preferred structures and interactions prescribed by the communities in which we lived. We have survived by “faking” an external appearance that is more in tune with what’s around us. But for some of us, the discomfort of that cramped conformity was too harmful. University offered a degree of escape, but in the end it turned out to be nothing more than a series of forms and interactions that required a high degree of adaptability while offering a little more freedom.
Many of us weren’t able to accept and express the true contours of ourselves until we became adults and found and joined unusual communities that accepted and accommodated each other. This community is built on openness to change and adaptation, recognizing different forms and embracing challenging but authentic interactions as we live together. For me and my husband and many of our friends and acquaintances here, Boulder was that place. Most of its vaunted “strangeness” was its living authenticity.
Recently, however, efforts appear to be underway that could threaten that history (e.g., density/housing, regarding welfare services, transportation issues, etc.). If at least some of these claims to “protect” Boulder only drive our biological evolution and eliminate much of the human form and interaction necessary to keep Boulder authentic, Boulder I can’t help but wonder if I’ll accidentally kill him instead. strange.
Fintan Steele is a former Benedictine monk and priest, and holds a Ph.D. Biology/Genetics. He has spent most of his life in science communication, including scientific publishing, and more recently in biopharmaceuticals and academic centers. He and his husband live in a sanitary facility. Email: fsteele1@me.com.
