{"id":2137,"date":"2026-09-17T15:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T06:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/?post_type=report&p=2137"},"modified":"2026-09-18T14:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T05:51:33","slug":"uniting-sequence-and-structure-to-map-the-protein-universe","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/","title":{"rendered":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new protein language model combines sequence and structure information to reveal relationships across billions of years of evolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Figure. A protein world map
This 2-dimensional map of the protein universe organizes proteins so that neighboring points are closely related. The colouring indicates different protein structure types.
Credit: Guy Yanai<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures. The model provides researchers with a new way to map relationships across the protein universe and investigate how proteins have evolved over billions of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was led by Prof. Rachel Kolodny and PhD candidate Guy Yanai of the University of Haifa, Prof. Nir Ben-Tal and graduate student Gabriel Axel of Tel Aviv University, and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Liam M. Longo of ELSI. Kolodny also spent five months as a visiting researcher at ELSI developing approaches to analyse the new model. The findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)<\/i><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference<\/strong>
Guy Yanai, Gabriel Axel, Liam M. Longo, Nir Ben-Tal and Rachel Kolodny. Contrastive learning unites sequence and structure in a global representation of protein space PNAS<\/i><\/strong> DOI: 10.1073\/pnas.2532702123<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full press release is available on this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on ELSI, please visit the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2134,"template":"","initiative":[6],"report_theme":[7],"media":[13],"report_tag":[29],"member":[65],"class_list":["post-2137","report","type-report","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","initiative-space-humanity","report_theme-report_theme-7","media-media-13","report_tag-elsi","member-liam-m-longo","en-US"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-18T05:51:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"634\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"508\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/kanri\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-17T06:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-18T05:51:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/kanri\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/kanri\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg\",\"width\":634,\"height\":508},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/report\\\/rid2137\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Report\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/report\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/\",\"name\":\"IFs\",\"description\":\"\u73fe\u5728\u306e\u5ef6\u9577\u7dda\u4e0a\u306b\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3001\u30aa\u30eb\u30bf\u30ca\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u306a\u672a\u6765\u3092\u518d\u69cb\u7bc9\u3059\u308b\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IFs\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/kanri\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/kanri\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/logo.svg\",\"width\":242,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"IFs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs","description":"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs","og_description":"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/","og_site_name":"IFs","article_modified_time":"2026-09-18T05:51:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":634,"height":508,"url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/","url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/","name":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe | IFs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-17T06:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-18T05:51:33+00:00","description":"An international team of researchers, including ELSI, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/084060782ba23f36b8753bf317ad5f02.jpg","width":634,"height":508},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2137\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Report","item":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/report\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/","name":"IFs","description":"\u73fe\u5728\u306e\u5ef6\u9577\u7dda\u4e0a\u306b\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3001\u30aa\u30eb\u30bf\u30ca\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u306a\u672a\u6765\u3092\u518d\u69cb\u7bc9\u3059\u308b","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#organization","name":"IFs","url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/logo.svg","width":242,"height":50,"caption":"IFs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report\/2137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/report"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"initiative","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative?post=2137"},{"taxonomy":"report_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report_theme?post=2137"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=2137"},{"taxonomy":"report_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report_tag?post=2137"},{"taxonomy":"member","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member?post=2137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}