STAT+: Prominent AI startup rolls out virtual cell model in race to speed up science

GenBio AI, a Palo Alto startup, announced AIDO Cell on Tuesday, a virtual cell model designed to simulate the behavior of entire cells at the molecular level. The concept is analogous to Google Earth: researchers can zoom in on proteins, RNA, and DNA, then perturb the system—such as knocking out a gene or adding a drug—to predict how the cellular landscape changes.

AIDO Cell goes beyond AlphaFold, which predicts individual protein structures, by modeling how all molecular components work together. David Baker, a University of Washington scientist, Nobel laureate, and GenBio AI co-founder, explained: 'With AlphaFold, you're predicting the structure of one house or learning about one person in that city, whereas in AIDO Cell, you're sort of predicting how that whole city works.' The article is part of STAT+ exclusive coverage.