AlphaFold adds 8,000+ virus protein dimers and a pandemic preparedness portal
AllThingsApx · x · 2026-09-25
Nature reports a major upgrade to the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database: researchers added more than 8,000 virus protein dimers — pairs of interacting molecules — from 23 virus families, all with human-infecting members, including pathogens like monkeypox virus. The 3D structures are predicted with the AlphaFold2 AI tool and made freely available.
The addition is part of a new 'pandemic preparedness portal' within the database, aimed at helping respond to future outbreaks. Nature cautions, however, that the AI predictions will need experimental confirmation. Earlier this year, the database also added 1.7 million predicted pairs of interacting proteins from 20 well-studied organisms, including humans.
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