CASP (Critical Assessment of protein Structure Prediction)

CASP (Critical Assessment of protein Structure Prediction) is an international competition that evaluates how accurately computer models can predict the 3D structures of proteins from their amino acid sequences. Researchers submit their predicted models, which are then compared to experimentally determined structures obtained through lab techniques like X-ray crystallography. CASP provides an objective measure of progress in the field, helping scientists understand how well their computational methods work and guiding future improvements. It's a key event encouraging innovation in understanding protein shapes, which are crucial for drug design, disease research, and biology.