Into the Fold

On the Green there is an anvil that nobody remembers putting there. When the hammer rings, a spark jumps off it and waits, and two children follow it. One of the spark doors leads to the very small place called the Fold, where real proteins bump, fit, fold and bind.

Beto is nine and takes things apart. Danya is twelve and always asks "how do we know?". The proteins in these stories have no faces and no plans. Each story starts from a question you could ask in a kitchen, and ends with an Honest Page that marks what was seen in an experiment, what was predicted by AlphaFold, and what was imagined for the story. The proteins are drawn in ink where AlphaFold is sure and in pencil where it is not.

1. The Lantern in the Jellyfish · GFP
   Why is the jellyfish glowing?
2. Four Seats · Haemoglobin
   How does your blood pick up so much oxygen in your lungs, and let so much go in your muscles?