The natural world as we know it represents only a fraction of what might exist. Based on this idea, AI BioDesign was born: a scientific project that combines artificial intelligence and large-scale laboratory experiments to design and test new molecules and biological functions that are not found in nature but are physically and chemically possible.
\n\nIn doing so, the researchers are aiming to create databases, models, and tools that could serve as “seeds” for developing the medicines and technologies of the future. The authors envision, for example, new drugs to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases or enzymes capable of breaking down plastics in the ocean.
\n\nProteins that do not exist in nature but are technically possible can be designed and constructed using AI.
\n\nThe initiative is led by the Allen Institute, a biomedical research nonprofit in Seattle, along with the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Among the scientists leading the charge is David Baker, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in computational protein design.
\n\nFor much of the history of biology, scientists have studied the solutions forged by billions of years of evolution. Exploring possibilities that nature never produced is a…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/