|
I did answer your question, but now you're asking a different one. I have no idea how "important" protein structure prediction will ultimately become; I just know that it's currently pretty useless, and getting worse. My first comment was that compiler optimization is about a thousand times more useful than protein folding. I stand by that remark. However, at the beginning of my long answer, I mistakenly wrote that protein structure prediction is not important, when I had meant to write that it is not useful: protein folding is an important biological process, but protein structure prediction is not particularly useful, for the reasons I've mentioned. It's not my place to say which area of research is more important. That's a subjective question, and the answer depends on your value system, your outlook, and your willingness to wait. Obviously, I think that compiler optimization is more useful, because compilers are actually in use today. In 100 years...who knows? That said, I think you're laboring under the assumption that compiler optimization is a "mature" field, and that it is "solved" (and therefore less important), whereas protein folding is not "solved" (and therefore more important). The thing is, people have been doing protein folding research for at least fifty years -- it is a very mature field, and the low-hanging fruit has been picked. I think that a new researcher is equally likely to make significant gains in either field, but that the potential for practical impact is still much greater in compiler design. |