SPIKE: The Interactive Protein Engineering Simulator

SPIKE, an interactive protein engineering simulator designed for educational and conceptual research purposes. Users can input sequences of up to 2,000 amino acids, which appear as a visual chain of color-coded nodes representing specific residues. By manually manipulating these nodes into various shapes, investigators can monitor live updates on thermodynamic stability and structural alignment with specific biological motifs. If a user achieves a high degree of folding accuracy, the software provides an automated prediction regarding the protein's likely biological purpose, such as signaling or immune defense. The platform also offers pre-configured templates of natural proteins to help users understand the relationship between molecular architecture and function. Ultimately, this tool streamlines the prototyping process for novel synthetic proteins by providing immediate visual and quantitative feedback.