Role of deep learning in biology

A popular artificial intelligence method provides a powerful tool for the survey and classification of biological data. But for the illiterate, technology presents significant difficulties. Four years ago, Google scientists showed up at neuroscientist Steve Finkbeiner's door. The researchers were based at Google Accelerated Science, a research division in Mountain View, Calif., which aims to use Google technologies to speed up the scientific search. They were also interested in applying a'deep-learning' approach to the mountains of imaging data generated by Finkbeiner's team at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco, California.