As more and more protein sequences and three-dimensional structures become known

Protein scientists have devised a competition called CASP, or Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction, which is held every other year. Laboratories that are working on determination of three-dimensional structure by x-ray crystallography (or nmr) announce that they expect to release the structure in a few months. They give a description of the sequence of the protein and its use in the cell, and withhold the actual structural coordinates until a certain date. In the meantime, laboratories with predictive algorithms publicly post the structure they think the protein will have. The success or failure of the prediction takes place in a public arena, and the better predictors have bragging rights. CASP-4 in 2000 showed that there are several effective programs available, notably ROSETTA, used by David Baker of the University of Washington.

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