Generative AI agents are transforming biology research: high resolution functional genome annotation for multiscale understanding of life
Stefan Harrer, Rahul Rane, Robert Speight
Abstract
Life is inherently multimodal and governed by interactions between DNA, RNA, proteins and metabolites that vary in time and space, from cell to cell, and genome to biome. This complexity prevents us from understanding many biological systems and has brought heuristic analytical techniques to their limits. Holistic approaches driven by narrow AI have over the last decade shown promise for overcoming those limitations and offered new ways of explaining and designing biological systems. The evolution of Large Language Model (LLM)-based generative AI techniques and the currently unfolding Cambrian Explosion of novel agentic AI tools (Agents) allow biologists to bundle AI, biological data, and advanced life sciences technologies into a suite of scientific and engineering capabilities.