Biology

An agent designed for broad biological research could accelerate the work of scientists in specialties from anatomy to zoology.

An AI agent synthesizes novel scientific research hypotheses. It's already making an impact in biomedicine.

Scientists pledged to control their use of AI to produce potentially hazardous biological materials.

Researchers used an AI system to identify animal cell types from gene sequences, including a cell type that conventional approaches had discovered only in the past year. 

Biologists used neural networks to find a new class of antibiotics. Researchers at MIT and Harvard trained models to screen chemical compounds for those that kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the deadliest among bacteria that have...

A machine learning method could help chemists formulate pesticides that target harmful insects but leave bees alone. Researchers at Oregon State University developed models that classify whether or not a chemical is fatally toxic to bees.

People who suffer from gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome are number two when it comes to describing the characteristics of their own poop.

The computational systems known as cellular automata reproduce patterns of pixels by iteratively applying simple rules based loosely on the behavior of biological cells. New work extends their utility from reproducing images to generating new ones.

A new machine learning technique is boosting algae as a renewable, carbon-neural source of fuel for airplanes and other vehicles typically powered by fossil fuels.

Every gene in the human genome exists in a variety of mutations, and some encode protein variants that cause cells to malfunction, resulting in illness. Yet which mutations are associated with disease is largely unknown.

An insect-sorting robot could help scientists grapple with the global biodiversity crisis. An automated insect classifier sucks in tiny arthropods, classifies them, and maps their most important identifying features.

Transformer models trained on sequences of amino acids that form proteins have had success classifying and generating viable sequences. New research shows that they also capture information about protein structure.

A combination of computer vision and drones could help restore dwindling killer whale populations. Researchers at Oregon State University and conservation groups SR3 and Vulcan developed a system that assesses the health of orcas.

The U.S. government aims to turbocharge biomedical AI research. The National Institutes of Health, which invests $41.7 billion annually in medical research, announced a program called Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) to promote machine learning in human biology and medicine.

Many medical drugs work by modulating the body’s production of specific proteins. Recent research aimed to predict this activity, enabling researchers to identify drugs that might counteract the effects of Covid-19.