Argonne puts artificial intelligence to work on biology’s big challenges | Newswise

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how science gets done. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, researchers are not just using AI as a tool. They are building AI systems that think, reason and experiment alongside scientists. Three new projects, funded in concert with DOE’s Genesis Mission, put Argonne at the center of that transformation.

The Genesis Mission is a DOE initiative to harness AI to accelerate scientific discovery across disciplines. Argonne is uniquely positioned to lead this work. The laboratory combines world-class computing infrastructure, deep expertise in AI and machine learning, and hands-on biological research capabilities — including self-driving laboratories where robots and algorithms run experiments with minimal human intervention. That rare combination of strengths makes Argonne a natural home for projects that sit at the crossroads of AI and life science.

Each of the three projects — OPAL, IdeA and MELT-REE — tackle biological challenges in a complementary manner. Together, they represent a new model for how science can be done: faster, smarter and at a scale no human team could match alone.

OPAL: a self-driving network for biological discovery