Mizzou Engineer lends protein prediction expertise to climate change studies at Danforth Plant Science Center

An inter-institutional research team is using the power of computational analysis to pinpoint which plant genes confer resilience against rising temperatures that threaten global food supplies in the coming decades. Mizzou Engineering Professor Jianlin “Jack” Cheng — one of the first scientists in the world to use deep learning, a powerful artificial intelligence technique, to predict protein structures — adds a unique perspective to the work. Since 2018, he’s been collaborating with Dr. Ru Zhang, a plant scientist at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, to leverage computational tools in the study of plant genes.

Protein Prediction Challenge Makes History – and Mizzou Engineers Rank in Top 10

Mizzou Engineering students took on tech giants at a worldwide competition last month and came home in the top 10 for devising a way to accurately predict protein structures. And in subcategories, Mizzou teams ranked in the top 3.

Cheng Receives $1.37M NIH Grant to Predict Protein Structures

Knowing the three-dimensional structure of proteins—such as the shape of the spike-like protein that injects coronavirus into our cells—can help us treat illnesses. That’s one reason why predicting protein structures remains one of the world’s highest health priorities. Mizzou Engineering Jianlin Cheng has been working on protein prediction methods for more than a decade.