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Scientists have been studying how proteins fold for decades.

• This research got a boost in late 2020, when AlphaFold proved it could predict protein structures with great accuracy.
• But what exactly happens as proteins transition from unfolded to folded states and vice versa?
• This is information that scientists have struggled to visualize. So University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chemistry researcher Martin Gruebele and composer and software developer Carla Scaletti teamed up to try sound instead.
• Proteins are vital for life, involved in virtually every biochemical process that makes life possible.
• They comprise one or more amino acid chains (called polypeptides) that are folded into complex 3D structures. These configurations are very specific and determine a protein’s function.
• Misfolded proteins are responsible for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and diabetes.