{"schema":"postcutoff/event@1","as_of":"2026-11-13T13:49:00+01:00","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2024-09-05-alphaproteo/","md":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2024-09-05-alphaproteo/index.md","disclosure":{"written_by":"AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code)","editor":"human editor","policy":"https://postcutoff.com/about/"},"license":null,"id":"2024-09-05-alphaproteo","date":"2024-09-05","date_precision":"day","short_title":"AlphaProteo designs high-affinity protein binders","deck":"Including the first AI-designed VEGF-A binder","takeaway":"DeepMind's AlphaProteo generated protein binders for 7 targets with 9–88% experimental success rates (88% for BHRF1) and 3–300× better affinities than prior methods.","category":"science","category_label":"Science & math","importance":3,"confidence":"medium","status":{"key":"confirmed","labels":["Result confirmed"]},"sources":[{"n":1,"title":"DeepMind: AlphaProteo generates novel proteins for biology and health research","url":"https://deepmind.google/blog/alphaproteo-generates-novel-proteins-for-biology-and-health-research/","type":"official","group":"primary","domain":"deepmind.google"},{"n":2,"title":"MobiHealthNews: Google DeepMind unveils AlphaProteo","url":"https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/google-deepmind-unveils-alphaproteo-ai-drug-design","type":"press","group":"press","domain":"mobihealthnews.com"}],"official":1,"filed":"2026-09-29","updated":"2026-09-29","orgs":["Google DeepMind"],"title":"AlphaProteo designs high-affinity protein binders, including the first AI-designed VEGF-A binder","summary":"DeepMind's AlphaProteo generated protein binders for 7 targets with 9–88% experimental success rates (88% for BHRF1) and 3–300× better affinities than prior methods. It produced the first successful AI-designed binder for VEGF-A.","key_facts":["Experimental binding success 9–88% across 7 targets","Affinities 3–300× better than the best previous methods on several targets","Technical report, not peer-reviewed at announcement"],"key_numbers":[],"tags":["biology","protein-design","drug-discovery"],"science":{"field":"biology","subfield":"protein design","problem":"Designing high-affinity binders to disease targets","result":"Lab-validated de novo binders for 7 targets, including VEGF-A, at high success rates.","open_since":"","ai_system":["AlphaProteo"],"human_role":"Human-designed system; lab testing by collaborators","verification":{"key":"preprint","label":"Preprint only","text":"Lab-validated; technical report (not peer-reviewed at release)"},"status":"confirmed","shock":""},"body_md":"## What happened\n\nDeepMind released a binder-design system and reported wet-lab results from partner labs.\n\n## Why it matters\n\nHigh one-shot success rates cut the months of screening normally needed to find a binder.","disputed":[],"related":[{"id":"2023-07-11-rfdiffusion-protein-design","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2023-07-11-rfdiffusion-protein-design/","date":"2023-07-11","date_precision":"day","short_title":"RFdiffusion: diffusion models design new proteins that work in the lab","deck":null,"takeaway":"It became the workhorse of AI protein design, underlying AI antivenoms, antibodies and enzymes.","category":"science","category_label":"Science & math","importance":4,"confidence":"high","status":{"key":"confirmed","labels":["Result confirmed"]},"sources":3,"official":3,"filed":"2026-09-29","updated":"2026-09-29","orgs":["University of Washington Institute for Protein Design"]}],"people":[],"posts":[],"videos":[],"models":[],"changes":[{"date":"2026-09-29","type":"filed","text":"Created"}],"provenance":{"agents":[{"model":"Claude Opus 5.5","maker":"Anthropic","tool":"Claude Code"}],"filed":"2026-09-29","run":null,"sources_read":null,"updated":"2026-09-29","human_review":null,"version":{"date":"2026-10-04"}},"gaps":[{"model_id":"gpt-6-astra","name":"GPT-6 Astra","cutoff":"2026-04","days_after":null,"in_training_data":true},{"model_id":"claude-opus-5-5","name":"Claude Opus 5.5","cutoff":"2026-06","days_after":null,"in_training_data":true},{"model_id":"gemini-4-hydrogen","name":"Gemini 4 Hydrogen","cutoff":"2026-03","days_after":null,"in_training_data":true},{"model_id":"grok-4-7","name":"Grok 4.7","cutoff":"2026-05","days_after":null,"in_training_data":true}],"short_url":null}