Picotechnology Method

From DNA to 3D Protein
in Seconds

PicoFold predicts three-dimensional protein structures from DNA sequences using the Picotechnology method. Upload an EMBL file, explore the interactive structure, and export to PDB.

Try Free How it works
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64
Amino acid types
5
Helix types supported
PDB
Standard export format
Workflow

Three steps to your structure

No installation needed. Works entirely in the browser.

STEP 1

Upload EMBL file

Drag and drop your EMBL or GenBank DNA sequence file. Parsed securely — your data stays private.

STEP 2

Structure prediction

The Picotechnology algorithm maps codons to helix types and assembles backbone + side chains in 3D space.

STEP 3

Visualize & export

Explore the structure interactively in cartoon, stick or sphere mode. Download the standard PDB file for further analysis.

Features

Everything you need

Interactive 3D viewer

Rotate, zoom and inspect your protein with 3Dmol.js — no plugins required.

Job history

All your predictions are saved. Revisit, re-download or compare results any time.

Secure & private

Files stored by UUID, JWT auth, bcrypt passwords. Your sequences never leave your account.

PDB export

Standard PDB format ready for PyMOL, UCSF Chimera, VMD and other molecular tools.

Cloud processing

Heavy computation runs server-side. Close the tab — your job keeps running.

Custom angles

Tune DNE rotation angles per-account for advanced structural calibration.

The science

Picotechnology method

The Picotechnology method derives protein 3D coordinates directly from the DNA codon sequence — bypassing traditional folding simulations.

Each triplet of bases (codon) determines both the helix type (alpha, beta, pi, 310, or single) and the amino acid, which together define the local geometry of the backbone and side chain atoms.

C=0, A=1, T=2, G=3 — base encoding
DNE_GROUPS[b1][b2][b3] — helix type lookup
RotateAtoms + AddAtoms — 3D assembly pipeline
pipeline.py 
for i in range(0, len(dna), 3):
    b1, b2, b3 = dna[i:i+3]

    helix = DNE_GROUPS[b1][b2][b3]
    amino = DNE_AMI[b1][b2][b3]

    if amino == "TKD":  # stop codon
        break

    RotateAtoms(helix)
    AddAtoms(ATOMS_COMMON)
    AddAtoms(SIDE_CHAIN_MAP[b1*4+b2][b3])

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