 In early 2008 , Rosetta was used to computationally design a protein with a function never before observed in nature . This was inspired in part by the retraction of a high @-@ profile paper from 2004 which originally described the computational design of a protein with improved enzymatic activity compared to its natural form . The 2008 research paper from David Baker 's group describing how the protein was made , which cited Rosetta @ home for the computational resources it made available , represented an important proof of concept for this protein design method . This type of protein design could have future applications in drug discovery , green chemistry , and bioremediation . 
