By 2 December 2030, the world's landfill problem might have been solved. Terrible illnesses like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease could be as much a thing of the past as smallpox and polio. And it will all be thanks to a scientific breakthrough unveiled on Monday.

It seems like a very small, technical achievement: the artificial intelligence group DeepMind has produced a programme, AlphaFold, that can reliably predict how proteins will fold. But it will revolutionise the way humanity lives.

All life is based on proteins, from the tiniest virus to the biggest, most complex creature. Being able to map proteins is the key to all kinds of revolutionary technologies.

We could produce "green enzymes" that safely break down plastic waste. We could predict and prevent cases of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's disease. We could even cure age-old illnesses like malaria, which has plagued humanity since the beginning of our history.

But what is protein folding, and why is it so important?

A gene is a long string of DNA molecules which are described using four letters: c, a, t and g. Three of these letters together make up an amino acid. If the molecules are like letters in a word, then amino acids are the words themselves.

But just knowing the "words" does not help us understand the proteins. Proteins are clumps of amino acids that are folded in particular ways, and these folds are like grammar: they determine the function of the protein in the same way that the order of words decides the meaning of a sentence.

The two sentences "the dog bites the man" and "the man bites the dog" have the same words, but very different meanings. In the same way, identical amino acids can produce very different proteins.

Genetic disorders are caused when a single DNA molecule is "misprinted" as another letter: a kind of genetic typo. This single, tiny mutation can alter the way in which a protein folds, with devastating effects on the body.

Previously, scientists could map out a protein. But they could not predict how a mutation would affect its shape, and thus its function. It is a problem that has plagued biology for five decades. Now they finally have a solution. It is like cracking the Enigma code in the fight against genetic disease.

Longer life expectancies across the world have come at a price: genetic disorders associated with old age - like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - which occur when brain proteins fold in the wrong way. Now we have the key to living longer lives without the threat of brain degeneration.

The breakthrough is also a vindication for DeepMind, which has previously focused mostly on training AI to play games like chess and Go. This is the long-term strategy of the Alphabet-owned company: it has used games as a training ground for its AI, building them up to tackle more serious problems.

There is more work to be done: AlphaFold is not correct 100% of the time. But it suggests that AI does have an application in this vital area of science.

Absolutely, say some. This is a huge leap forward for science, with plenty of practical applications. Thanks to this discovery, the world could be unrecognisable by the beginning of the next decade. Whole diseases might have been wiped out, the oceans could be free of plastic, famine could be a thing of the past, and old age might no longer carry the threat of slow, agonising mental decline.

Hold your horses, say others. While this is a huge breakthrough, it will take time and a lot more experimentation to put it into practice. While DeepMind's AI can predict protein folding, we still do not understand how it works: if anything, the mystery has deepened. Science is a continuous process, and it will take more work and diligent research before the new programme starts changing our lives.