[jmzachary]

I'm asking the same question, and you're not close to answering it. My question was "what problems in compiler optimization make it a thousand times more useful than protein folding and associated medical problems?" because you authoritatively stated that protein folding work (implicitly computational protein folding work) was much less important/useful (pick one) than compiler optimization work. You keep talking about protein folding research, but you don't say anything about compiler optimization. Was that comparison just an off-hand or self-deprecating remark about protein folding work? I'm not asking which area is more important. And, I know enough about both fields to not get lost in the technical details of your answers. So, I'll ask it again: what problems in compiler optimization make it a thousand times more useful than protein folding and associated medical problems?

[timr]

If you want to know the most important/useful areas in compiler research, go ask a compiler researcher. I'm not a compiler researcher.

Compilers are used on a daily basis for real work; protein structure prediction is not. For this reason alone, research into compilers is more useful.