Episode 29 - Jérôme Hénin: Free energy methods, building useful software, and human learning from biomolecular systems

Send us Fan MailJerome starts our conversation by reviewing the history of the ABF method and its advantages compared to the main competitors, and connects it to the development of COLVARS, historically very parallel to how the development of the Plumed tool stemmed from the needs of the metadynamics community. We discuss the benefits of graphical interfaces in biomolecular workflows, and touch upon the question of connecting multiple software environments and communities. We then move on to discuss membrane systems and the challenges they pose, both historically and today, and end up on the alchemical side, talking about the latest approaches to alchemical free energy calculations from several exciting angles. Eventually, we agree that regardless of software developments, it's learning and helping others learn to understand molecular systems that's the most rewarding part of the job of a biophysicist.