AlphaFold gave us the fold — one exquisite snapshot per sequence. But a protein does its job by moving: pockets open and close, domains swing, disordered chains never settle. The physics tool for that motion, molecular dynamics, is brutally slow. The 2025–26 frontier reframes the problem: generative models that emulate a protein’s whole equilibrium ensemble — the distribution of shapes it visits — orders of magnitude faster than simulation. It’s the molecular-motion layer a virtual cell needs, the computational complement to cryo-ET’s snapshots, and a fresh test of prove-it discipline.
