Figure 1From: A population-based evolutionary search approach to the multiple minima problem in de novo protein structure predictionThe native state, labeled N, is associated with the free-energy minimum and is expected to consist of conformations located at the deepest unique basin of the protein energy surface [16]. In contrast to this classic illustration, adapted from [16], the illustration to the right shows that the actual surface reconstructed by current energy functions is often weakly-funneled, rich in local minima, and with non-native states in deeper basins than the native state.Back to article page