Edward Lyman
University of Delaware
Editor, Channels, Transporters, and Receptors
Biophysical Journal
What are you currently working on that excites you?
For about 20 years I used molecular simulations to understand how lipids influence membrane protein function. A few years ago, I kept landing on questions that are not easily addressed by molecular simulations. How do you learn about characteristics of lipid-protein interactions that are unique to the inner mitochondrial membrane? Simulate every inner mitochondrial membrane protein, in a complex, asymmetric model of the mitochondrial membrane? Very hard to do, for many reasons!
Simultaneously, my students (Bivek Pokhrel, Christian Munley, and Miguel Pedraza Joya) were dragging me—kicking and screaming—into the world of AI. They showed me that there are exciting things happening in that sector! We have since been having a lot of fun learning about protein language models and using them to discover new things about lipid-protein interactions. We are finding that “foundation models” like ESM-C are allowing us to ask entirely new questions about protein biochemistry. If you are AI-skeptical, I encourage you to have an open mind and learn about the developments in AI models for protein biochemistry. It’s fun to learn new stuff!
Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party?
If it can be a bike ride instead, I pick Tadej Pogacar. A talent in cycling like we haven’t seen since Eddy Merckx. He wins grand tours (five-time winner of the Tour de France) but also has won every one-day classic except Paris-Roubaix. A long day in the Slovenian Alps with Pogi— that’s my wish!