Jan 13 (Reuters) - Gene sequencing company Illumina on Tuesday introduced a dataset that maps genetic changes to help accelerate drug discovery through artificial intelligence.
The company said it was partnering with drugmakers AstraZeneca, Merck and Eli Lilly for its Billion Cell Atlas, which will train advanced AI models at scale and advance research into fundamental disease mechanisms that have previously been out of reach.
Drug developers are increasingly adopting AI for discovery and safety testing to get faster and cheaper results, in line with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's push to reduce animal testing in the near future.
Drug development software maker Certara and biotechs such as Schrodinger and Recursion Pharmaceuticals are using the booming technology to predict how experimental drugs might be absorbed, distributed or trigger toxic side-effects.
"We believe the Cell Atlas is a key development that will enable us to significantly scale AI for drug discovery," said Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen.
The Atlas will capture how 1 billion individual cells respond to genetic changes via CRISPR across more than 200 disease-relevant cell lines.
These cell lines have been selected for their relevance to diseases, many of which have been historically difficult to decode, including immune disorders and cancer as well as cardiometabolic, neurological and rare genetic diseases.
The Atlas will enable users to characterize drug and disease mechanisms of action, explore potential new indications and validate candidate targets from human genetics.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
LATEST POSTS
- 1
What we know about Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis - 2How C-reactive protein outpaced ‘bad’ cholesterol as leading heart disease risk marker
- 3Posts falsely claim Malaysian minister to relocate public hospital for temple
- 4What do scientists hope to learn from NASA's historic Artemis 2 moon flyby?
- 5Overlooked infertility care should be part of national health services, says WHO
- Lower-cost space missions like NASA's ESCAPADE are starting to deliver exciting science – but at a price in risk and trade‑offs
- Ukraine to get up to 100 French-made Rafale fighter jets
- Figure out How to Put resources into Lab Precious stones
- Exclusive new photos from 'Michael' biopic show Jaafar Jackson as King of Pop
- They died 'doing what they loved': The stories of workers in their 80s who died on the job
- 3 back-to-back storms forecast to bring snow and surges of cold air across the Midwest to the Northeast
- Public mistrust linked to drop in deceased donor organ donations and kidney transplants
- 80 km. on foot: Sharren Haskel’s three-day march in protest of haredi draft bill
- Staggering Spots to Stargaze All over the Planet
