Imagine, if you will; a “doctor” begins the day by scanning the latest scientific publications, news articles and preprint servers to stay up to date with the latest advancements in biology. They use natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to extract relevant information, identify knowledge gaps and generate summaries of the key findings.
With a deep understanding of biological concepts, this “doctor” assists researchers in experimental design. Scientists consult the “doctor” to optimize their protocols, suggesting the most suitable techniques and controls based on extensive analysis of existing literature and experimental outcomes. They consider factors like sample size, statistical power and potential confounding variables to guide researchers toward rigorous and reliable experiments.
Why the quotation marks around doctor? That’s because the doctor is an example of what an AI scientist can do for life science research and development. The power of AI in biology lies in its ability to accelerate experiment design and execution. By leveraging natural language prompts and advanced machine learning (ML), scientists can optimize their research process and focus on creative problem-solving.
So what was thought to be a future endeavor is now taking a step toward becoming a reality, thanks to Synthace.
Synthace has been at the forefront of digitalizing biology experiments. Synthace's team of creators (i.e. of a digital experiment platform for life science R&D) have successfully integrated its platform with OpenAI's ChatGPT, bringing the power of generative AI to biology experiments. This integration allows scientists to use natural language prompts to describe and design complex experiments, reducing time and effort in experiment design and lab automation.
By leveraging ChatGPT's natural language interface, scientists articulate their experimental intentions and collaborate with AI to define experiment details. This empowers researchers to perform more experiments at a greater level of complexity than ever before, leading to breakthroughs in drug discovery, therapeutics, food tech, climate tech, agritech and beyond.
To show this integration in action, a Synthace scientist uses ChatGPT to develop a growth medium for CAR T Cells, a potential treatment for cancer. The AI provides a list of ingredients and defines an experiment to find the statistically optimal combination. The experiment is then simulated and executed on Synthace's platform in the lab, showcasing the flexibility to adapt the experiment to different equipment.
“This is a truly incredible achievement and a significant development in our mission to help scientists unlock the full power of biology,” said Guy Levy-Yurista, Synthace CEO.
As with any new technology, there is the potential for misuse. Luckily, safeguards are in place to prevent misuse. The Synthace platform acts as a crucial intermediary between AI and the lab, ensuring that only meaningful and beneficial operations are executed. Human involvement and critical thinking remain essential in decision-making and experiment execution.
The successful integration of Synthace's platform with ChatGPT represents a turning point for scientists in the lab. The combination of AI and biology, once considered science fiction, is now a reality. It empowers scientists to perform experiments with unprecedented speed, complexity and efficiency.
Edited by
Alex Passett