Various human-operated experimental techniques have been used to determine protein structures, but they're time-consuming and expensive. Considering that there are over 200 million known proteins across all lifeforms - and, so far, only 170,000 protein structures have been identified - it made sense to co-opt AI to speed up the process. But, until AlphaFold, programs haven't been able to predict protein structures in a way that's as accurate as human-based experimental techniques. AlphaFold 2, released in 2021, was a game-changing breakthrough, predicting 3-D structures for nearly every protein in the human body and enabling all sorts of cutting-edge science. In less than three years, it's been used by researchers worldwide to accelerate discoveries in cancer treatment, malaria vaccines, the creation of plastic-eating enzymes, and countless others - the Alphafold 2 paper currently lists more than 14,000 citations.