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5 challenges we could solve by designing new proteins

2,161,025 views | David Baker • TED2019

Proteins are remarkable molecular machines: they digest your food, fire your neurons, power your immune system and so much more. What if we could design new ones, with functions never before seen in nature? In this remarkable glimpse of the future, David Baker shares how his team at the Institute for Protein Design is creating entirely new proteins from scratch -- and shows how they could help us tackle five massive challenges facing humanity. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

Proteins are remarkable molecular machines: they digest your food, fire your neurons, power your immune system and so much more. What if we could design new ones, with functions never before seen in nature? In this remarkable glimpse of the future, David Baker shares how his team at the Institute for Protein Design is creating entirely new proteins from scratch -- and shows how they could help us tackle five massive challenges facing humanity. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Help launch the protein design revolution.

Solve puzzles for science by playing Foldit, the online protein-folding game.

Participate in Rosetta@Home.

About the speaker

David Baker

Computational biologist

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David Baker designs new biomolecules (proteins) from first principles to address 21st-century challenges in health and technology.

Oliver Morton | The Economist, 2019 | Article

"The engineering of living organisms could soon start changing everything"

The Economist recently dedicated an entire "Technology Quarterly" to the emerging field of synthetic biology. In it, author Oliver Morton reported on some of the work happening at the Institute for Protein Design.

Brian Koepnick, et al. | Nature, 2019 | Article

"De novo protein design by citizen scientists"

Learn how citizen science is fueling the protein design revolution through FoldIt, the online protein-folding game.

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Help launch the protein design revolution.

Solve puzzles for science by playing Foldit, the online protein-folding game.

Participate in Rosetta@Home.