from board games to protein design

Apr 21, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have successfully applied reinforcement learning to a challenge in molecular biology. A team led by UW Medicine researchers developed powerful new protein design software adapted from a strategy proven adept at board games like chess and Go. In one experiment, proteins made with the new approach were found to be effective at generating useful antibodies in mice. Reinforcement learning is a type of machine learning in which a computer program learns to make decisions by trying different actions and receiving feedback. Such an…