Manipulate amino acid chains on a lattice grid to find the lowest-energy conformation. Hydrophobic residues want to cluster together — minimize energy to solve each level.
Click and drag any residue to an adjacent empty grid cell. The chain must stay connected. Cyan (H) = hydrophobic, Purple (P) = polar, Green (C) = charged. H-H contacts lower energy.
Proteins must fold into precise 3D shapes to function. When folding goes wrong, misfolded proteins aggregate and cause diseases like Alzheimer's (amyloid-beta plaques), Parkinson's (alpha-synuclein fibrils), and prion diseases. Understanding folding helps develop therapies that stabilize correct protein structures or clear toxic aggregates.