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Life Sciences and Medicine

Computation & Analysis

Nobel Prize–Inspired de novo Protein Design with Wolfram Language

When I read a recent New York Times article on AI, I didn’t think I would be following the footsteps of a Nobel laureate, but I soon discovered that I could do just that with Wolfram Language. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2024 was awarded for computational protein design and protein structure prediction, which have been active areas of research for several decades. The early work was built upon a foundation of physics and chemistry, attempting to model the folding of the chain of amino acid residues comprising a protein into a three-dimensional structure using conformational analysis and energetics. More recently, AI methods have been brought to bear on the problem, making use of deep neural networks (DNNs) and large language models (LLMs) such as trRosetta, AlphaFold and ESMFold. The work of David Baker, one of the laureates, was recently showcased in a New York Times article.
Robert Nachbar, Senior Project Director, Wolfram Solutions
Education & Academic

From Data to Discovery: Studying Computational Biology with Wolfram

As computational science progresses, we are seeing leaps and bounds in what can be realized for helping the world. The technological advancements in biology have paved the way to better study medicine and the patterns of the environment in order to help the sick and optimize resources. Whether you’re classifying an animal for the first time or visualizing simulated animal genomes, Wolfram Language holds the tools and power to support your computational life science endeavors. The following is a collection of biology resources, projects and functions in Wolfram Language for any skill level.
Bailey Long, Technical Communications Specialist, Outreach & Communications
Computation & Analysis

Nutrients by the Numbers: Food and Nutrition Statistics with Wolfram Language

Statistical analysis is an important tool in food science. It can uncover patterns and relationships in food and nutrition data, leading to advances in food manufacturing, nutrition counseling, food safety and new product development. Wolfram Language offers built-in functions for all standard statistical distributions. Here, we’ll use some of these functions to evaluate relationships between nutrients and visualize the data distributions with informative plots and histograms.
Gay Wilson, Food Data Curator, Wolfram|Alpha Scientific Content Isabel Skidmore, Food Data Consultant
Computation & Analysis

Creamy or Crunchy: Visualizing Food Protein Structures in Wolfram Language

How important is the relationship between protein structure and the food we eat?

  • Protein structure influences food texture. It can make a food smooth and creamy or crisp and crunchy.
  • Protein structure helps determine digestibility. Proteins with looser structures are more readily hydrolyzed into amino acids for easier digestion.
  • Protein structure is a factor in whether foods such as peanuts and shellfish cause an allergic reaction.
  • Protein structure can make our foods elegant and appetizing.
Isabel Skidmore, et al.
Education & Academic

Fuel for the Future: Sustainable Foods with Wolfram Language

National Nutrition Month® is here, and the theme is “Fuel for the Future.” The future of food is sustainability, which we will explore through Wolfram Language. What is sustainable eating? It’s choosing the right foods, reducing food waste, eating local foods in season and even growing your own garden. Sustainability can lead to personal and planetary health.
Isabel Skidmore, Food Data Consultant
Education & Academic

Getting Hot and Spicy on the Scoville Scale with Wolfram Language

National Chili Day is February 23 and we’re celebrating the spicy heat that peppers bring to a great bowl of chili by exploring the "ScovilleRating" property in Wolfram Language. The Scoville scale ranks the spiciness (or pungency) of peppers by measuring the amount of the molecule capsaicin in a pepper and assigning it a number rating in Scoville heat units (SHUs). Pharmacist and chemist Wilbur Scoville introduced the “Scoville organoleptic test,” which eventually became the Scoville scale, in 1912. At the time, Mr. Scoville relied on human taste testers willing to do this challenging job. Today, scientists use high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the precise amount of capsaicin in a pepper.
Isabel Skidmore, Food Data Consultant
Current Events & History

Should I Eat That? Food Safety with Wolfram Language

Foodborne illness, or food poisoning, is something many of us have experienced. According to the World Health Organization, almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill each year after eating contaminated food. Luckily, by following recommended food safety practices, we can do our best to avoid getting sick.

September is Food Safety Education Month. To highlight the importance of food safety, we have introduced two new properties in Wolfram Language that can help users make smart choices about food storage:

Isabel Skidmore, Food Data Consultant
Current Events & History

Cheers! A Computational Exploration of Alcoholic Beverages with the Wolfram Language

For 10 thousand years, humans have been using fermentation to produce beverages for pleasure, rituals and healing. In ancient Greece, honey was fermented to produce mead. Today, popular sources of beverage fermentation are grains, grapes, berries and rice. The science of fermentation—known as zymology (or zymurgy)—is a fascinating blend of chemistry, biology, history and geography. The Wolfram Language now brings a new dimension to the study of alcoholic beverages through an extensive dataset ready to be explored and analyzed.
Isabel Skidmore, Food Data Consultant
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