Program Director, Open Philanthropy
science!
But other scientists like Claus Wilke & Derek Lowe say biology is far more complex, or progress will be limited by clinical trials & economics.
In a new 4hr podcast episode of *Hard Drugs*, we answer: Will AI solve medicine?
We decided to be as definitive as is possible in 2025. That meant going long, through the drug development process
Sections
1. Clashing worldviews
2. Drug discovery
3. Models
4. Efficacy
5. Safety
6. Manufacturing & healthcare
7. Funding
8. Trust & ambition
Hope you enjoy!
We cover the invention of 20 vaccines from the 1700s through 1970. Technology (smallpox vaccine) preceding scientific understanding (germ theory), then speeding up once theory established from experiments (maggots…) & new tools made (agar plates)
Smallpox kills 1 in 3 cases. Yet you can’t culture pathogens, don’t know germ theory, and have no idea what a virus is. How would you invent a vaccine?
In a new episode of HARD DRUGS, we trace the history of vaccines!
We cover the invention of 20 vaccines from the 1700s through 1970. Technology (smallpox vaccine) preceding scientific understanding (germ theory), then speeding up once theory established from experiments (maggots…) & new tools made (agar plates)
🧵 on our work to make philanthropy a more efficient "market" and plans going forward:
🧵 on our work to make philanthropy a more efficient "market" and plans going forward:
At Open Philanthropy, we have given away $600M in biomedical research since 2016. Now, we're expanding the team to do more.
We're hiring:
* Up to 3 Senior Program Associates
* Program Officer in strep A
Remote OK, salaries in links! (Thread below)
At Open Philanthropy, we have given away $600M in biomedical research since 2016. Now, we're expanding the team to do more.
We're hiring:
* Up to 3 Senior Program Associates
* Program Officer in strep A
Remote OK, salaries in links! (Thread below)
At Open Philanthropy, we have given away $600M in biomedical research since 2016. Now, we're expanding the team to do more.
We're hiring:
* Up to 3 Senior Program Associates
* Program Officer in strep A
Remote OK, salaries in links! (Thread below)
www.worksinprogress.news/p/will-ai-so...?
www.worksinprogress.news/p/will-ai-so...?
We decided to be as definitive as is possible in 2025. That meant going long, through the drug development process
Sections
1. Clashing worldviews
2. Drug discovery
3. Models
4. Efficacy
5. Safety
6. Manufacturing & healthcare
7. Funding
8. Trust & ambition
Hope you enjoy!
But other scientists like Claus Wilke & Derek Lowe say biology is far more complex, or progress will be limited by clinical trials & economics.
In a new 4hr podcast episode of *Hard Drugs*, we answer: Will AI solve medicine?
We decided to be as definitive as is possible in 2025. That meant going long, through the drug development process
Sections
1. Clashing worldviews
2. Drug discovery
3. Models
4. Efficacy
5. Safety
6. Manufacturing & healthcare
7. Funding
8. Trust & ambition
Hope you enjoy!
- how to go from hallucinated cat pictures to hallucinated proteins
- whether @jacobtref.bsky.social can do photosynthesis
- whether we can make tiny protein straws for tardigrades to drink from
What if you could design a protein never seen in nature?
Scientists are using new AI tools like RFDiffusion, AlphaFold & ProteinMPNN to hallucinate novel proteins to solve problems nature hasn't.
@jacobtref.bsky.social & I talk about the art of protein design 🧑🎨
- how to go from hallucinated cat pictures to hallucinated proteins
- whether @jacobtref.bsky.social can do photosynthesis
- whether we can make tiny protein straws for tardigrades to drink from
As of 2022, you can hallucinate protein structures using AI similar to Midjourney (RFDiffusion) -> create amino acid strings for them (ProteinMPNN) -> validate with AlphaFold
Biology becomes engineering…
What if you could design a protein never seen in nature?
Scientists are using new AI tools like RFDiffusion, AlphaFold & ProteinMPNN to hallucinate novel proteins to solve problems nature hasn't.
@jacobtref.bsky.social & I talk about the art of protein design 🧑🎨
As of 2022, you can hallucinate protein structures using AI similar to Midjourney (RFDiffusion) -> create amino acid strings for them (ProteinMPNN) -> validate with AlphaFold
Biology becomes engineering…
I’d heard of AlphaFold before, but not of ProteinMPNN. You feed a protein structure into PMPNN & generate possible sequences of amino acids. And then you feed those into AlphaFold to check whether they’d fold up that way!
AlphaFold, ProteinMPNN & other AI tools are transforming biology and drug design.
But how do they work? What can’t they do? And can we use them to make a vaccine against Strep A for the very first time?
In this episode, Jacob and I talk about hacking proteins with AI.
I’d heard of AlphaFold before, but not of ProteinMPNN. You feed a protein structure into PMPNN & generate possible sequences of amino acids. And then you feed those into AlphaFold to check whether they’d fold up that way!
Ever wonder how AlphaFold works, or what practical problems it helps with?
How rattan daybeds can hold their own in a modern home?
This episode is for you!
AlphaFold, ProteinMPNN & other AI tools are transforming biology and drug design.
But how do they work? What can’t they do? And can we use them to make a vaccine against Strep A for the very first time?
In this episode, Jacob and I talk about hacking proteins with AI.
Ever wonder how AlphaFold works, or what practical problems it helps with?
How rattan daybeds can hold their own in a modern home?
This episode is for you!
"I heard it just now! So good 😊" – my mom
"Just listened to the new insulin episode and loved it." – @rossaokod.bsky.social
"you should have added 5 more minutes on how early researchers checked for the sweetness of animal urine..." – @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social
A hundred years ago, insulin was scraped from pig pancreases.
Today, it’s made by bacteria in giant tanks.
In this episode, we cover 100 years of insulin … in 15 minutes!
"I heard it just now! So good 😊" – my mom
"Just listened to the new insulin episode and loved it." – @rossaokod.bsky.social
"you should have added 5 more minutes on how early researchers checked for the sweetness of animal urine..." – @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social
This episode: proteins can be medicines!
Insulin is a protein. 104 years ago, no one with diabetes had been injected with it, then came insulin from animals, then came bioreactors...
A hundred years ago, insulin was scraped from pig pancreases.
Today, it’s made by bacteria in giant tanks.
In this episode, we cover 100 years of insulin … in 15 minutes!
This episode: proteins can be medicines!
Insulin is a protein. 104 years ago, no one with diabetes had been injected with it, then came insulin from animals, then came bioreactors...
“5 hours is too long!” some of you said after our first episode. So our second episode is 20 minutes 🤭
@jacobtref.bsky.social and I explore the world of proteins: how proteins fold into complex shapes, why complexity matters, how crowded and dynamic a cell really is.
This episode introduces what proteins are. You can listen to it on its own, or as the first plank of us answering that question. Subscribe in a podcast app for future planks!
“5 hours is too long!” some of you said after our first episode. So our second episode is 20 minutes 🤭
@jacobtref.bsky.social and I explore the world of proteins: how proteins fold into complex shapes, why complexity matters, how crowded and dynamic a cell really is.
This episode introduces what proteins are. You can listen to it on its own, or as the first plank of us answering that question. Subscribe in a podcast app for future planks!
What does AI progress mean for medical progress?
It starts with this 500 word piece. If you want more after that, there are 10,000 words of forking paths:
blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ai-progress-...
What does AI progress mean for medical progress?
It starts with this 500 word piece. If you want more after that, there are 10,000 words of forking paths:
blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ai-progress-...
The second article in our series on Tuberculosis: ourworldindata.org/the-end-of-t...
The second article in our series on Tuberculosis: ourworldindata.org/the-end-of-t...
I lost some amazing people to AIDS and they are missed every single day. I am so happy that this heartbreak can now be avoided thanks to these antivirals.
I still have hope for a cure one day.
www.statnews.com/2025/06/23/f...
I lost some amazing people to AIDS and they are missed every single day. I am so happy that this heartbreak can now be avoided thanks to these antivirals.
I still have hope for a cure one day.
www.statnews.com/2025/06/23/f...
bsky.app/profile/sta...
bsky.app/profile/sta...