Changing Drug Design with Artificial Intelligence (OLLI)

The best use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to date might be its impact on drug design. A new drug can take up to 10 years to reach the market and cost up to $2 billion. Help is on the way with AI, and it is much more than chatbots. In the first session, we will explore how AI is helping scientists better understand the basis of many diseases, which are proteins, and develop new treatments. We will discuss AlphaFold2 (which helped solve the protein-folding problem) and AlphaFold3 (a groundbreaking tool that models how proteins can be modulated by a potential new drug). We will also look at case studies of CAR T-cells and molecular glues.

In the second session, we will look at another AI tool?AlphaGenome. Many hereditary diseases and cancers are tied to mutations in our DNA rather than the protein-coding parts. AlphaGenome is built to predict exactly how a single-letter typo (or mutation) can disrupt the whole system and trigger cancer. Lastly, we will examine the work of Nobel Prize-winning scientist David Baker, whose AI-driven protein design and emerging DNA-printing technologies are opening new possibilities in medicine and other fields such as agriculture. These tools allow the production of novel proteins that do not exist in nature. Come and learn the latest in the evolving landscape of drug design. You don't need a background in science to enjoy this course.