Two groups have announced powerful new generative models that can design new proteins on demand not seen in nature. The explosion in text-to-image AI models like OpenAI's DALL-E 2--programs trained to generate pictures of almost anything you ask for--has sent ripples through the creative industries, from fashion to filmmaking, by providing weird and wonderful images on demand. The same technology behind these programs is also making a splash in biotech labs, which are increasingly using this type of generative AI, known as a diffusion model, to conjure up designs for new types of protein never seen in nature. Today, two labs separately announced programs that use diffusion models to generate designs for novel proteins with more precision than ever before. Generate Biomedicines, a Boston-based startup, revealed a program called Chroma, which the company describes as the "DALL-E 2 of biology."

As protests against rigid covid control measures in China engulfed social media in the past week, one Twitter account has emerged as the central source of information: @李老师不是你老师 ("Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher"). People everywhere in China have sent protest footage and real-time updates to the account through private messages, and it has posted them, with the sender's identity hidden, on their behalf. The man behind the account, Li, is a Chinese painter based in Italy, who requested to be identified only by his last name in light of the security risks. He's been tirelessly posting footage around the clock to help people within China get information, and also to inform the wider world. The work has been taking its toll--he's received death threats, and police have visited his family back in China.

Today, two labs separately announced programs that use diffusion models to generate designs for novel proteins with more precision than ever before. Generate Biomedicines, a Boston-based startup, revealed a program called Chroma, which the company describes as the "DALL-E 2 of biology." At the same time, a team at the University of Washington led by biologist David Baker has built a similar program called RoseTTAFold Diffusion. In a preprint paper posted online today, Baker and his colleagues show that their model can generate precise designs for novel proteins that can then be brought to life in the lab. "We're generating proteins with really no similarity to existing ones," says Brian Trippe, one of the co-developers of RoseTTAFold. These protein generators can be directed to produce designs for proteins with specific properties, such as shape or size or function.