This seems like a big deal—basically centaur research (man + AI) leading to breakthroughs.
The problem is that a simple chain can fold up into a vast number of different structures. In the past, determining the 3D structure of a single protein experimentally could take many years. Now, biologists can look at the predicted structure of almost any known protein in minutes, thanks to the database of nearly 200 million such structures just released by DeepMind.
The protein structures and open-source tools previously released by DeepMind have already accelerated many areas of research. Already, more than 100 studies citing AlphaFold are being released each month.
New Scientist