What are the real-world applications of protein folding (preferably, some specific example)? I always hear that it's really important for drug design and biotechnology but have a hard time imagining something concrete.
* Elucidating function by identifying similarity to other known structures
* Finding novel signaling mechanisms (see work on PHinder)
* Modeling co-receptor/ligand dynamics
* Identifying function of orphan receptors
* Working with ancestral genes by identifying descendant structure
* Classifying and clustering proteins based on solved structure
* Learning new biochemical mechanisms through active vs inactive state structures
...