New method expertly evaluates protein folding stability on a large scale

You may be familiar with the art of origami, in which paper is intricately folded to create shapes. But did you know that proteins in the human body also undergo an intricate folding process that is essential to their structure and function? Recently, researchers in the U.S. and Japan have shed new light on protein folding stability, or the propensity of a protein to maintain its folded shape—a factor at the center of diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and cystic fibrosis.