The successful protein design in this article is nice, but what I really like is how the author illustrated it with an internet-worthy Cute Animal. I realize foldit is not a cutesy game, but a critter here or there wouldn't hurt our image, would it?
Also interesting that the current design is too ideal to actually work as an enzyme, and they are planning to dis-optimize it a bit to see if they can make it do some work.
Would be even better if the animal was the school's mascot.
I like the idea that not only the binding part but also the structure of the remaining part of the protein plays a role.
When we design a binding protein or a drug, I suppose that there is also a "path" for the drug to come inside of the target protein? Thus the bonds should not be enough, we should think about an overall drug design that can enter the protein, be stable enough in water (and not binding to other proteins).
Scientists, correct me please !