In Focus: Ola Spjuth is implementing AI in life science DNA

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a natural part of our everyday lives. Many already find it hard to imagine a world without Siri and Spotify playlists. It is equally challenging to imagine how far this new technology can actually take us. Despite all the spectacular progress, the horizon still feels distant. Not least within life sciences, where research is on the threshold of a potential revolution.

“This spring, we will open our third robotic facility at Uppsala’s Biomedical Center. This time with all instruments in one single space, which gives us an environment where we can carry out all steps in a closed circuit. This brings us another big leap towards realizing our vision of the autonomous laboratory with robots performing the experiments and artificial intelligence suggesting the next step,” says Ola Spjuth, Professor of Pharmaceutical Bioinformatics.

The new facility will enable tasks previously impossible to perform: With a new grant from the Swedish Research Council, Ola Spjuth and his team are set to explore the effects of combining two or more drugs with the goal to identify new therapies. Along the way, the group will use CRISPR/Cas9, the gene deletion technology that was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

“Many drugs eventually prove useful against more diseases than those originally intended for. Reusing already approved substances for new therapeutic areas, drug repurposing, is rapidly increasing in medical importance. In parallel, this is demanding terrain, and since three years we are one of 24 hand-picked environments in REMEDI4ALL, an EU-funded platform where researchers with promising ideas turn for support in evaluating the scope to treat new diseases with existing drugs.”

In the borderland between BMC corridors and European consortia, Ola Spjuth is also leading the development of a national AI strategy for SciLifeLab. Ambitions are high: Sweden aims to compete at the absolute forefront, and SciLifeLab is to provide the resources in getting there. The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s SEK 3 billion investment in data-driven life science has opened a number of doors. The next step is to convert the opportunities into maximum benefit.

“Technological progress is happening so fast and on such a broad front that it is difficult to keep track. I understand those who feel worry and react with passivity; still we must accept that artificial intelligence is here to stay and about to influence all research. This makes education and inspiration central gears in the SciLifeLab toolbox. We simply must open the eyes of Swedish Life Science to AI’s potential to make well-functioning operations even better.”

The team at Lab Spjuth has already done the homework. Utilizing the possibilities of the new technology, the research environment has established itself among the leading forces in large-scale analysis of cells, using automated microscopy and image analysis with AI. In parallel, the group is heading for pole position in higher education, and when they in 2022 inaugurated Europe's first robotic course laboratory, the spotlight turned on Uppsala.

“The first videos from inside our course lab made a great impact on social media. The students really appreciate working practically with robotic experiments and the feedback from the pharmaceutical industry is exclusively positive. These are the results of long-term work in which we have designed course packages to provide future generations of Life Science experts necessary knowledge. We also welcome Master's thesis workers from across the world, and they all show inspiring commitment.”

New talent is undoubtedly needed. In Uppsala Science Park, Ola Spjuth and fellow researcher Jordi Carreras Puigvert are currently establishing Phenaros Pharmaceuticals, a company aiming to accelerate drug discovery and assess the potential of new drug candidates by integrating AI, phenomics and automation. The market is ready and with the laboratory still under construction, Phenaros has paying customers, received the Attractive Innovation Project Award and completed a successfully completed a pre-seed funding round.

“Uppsala's biotech landscape is a perfect setting. We are convinced of the values of physical presence, and here we operate only a few steps from our colleagues at Uppsala University, SciLifeLab and the University Hospital. Add a short train ride and we reach our partners in Stockholm. AI and automation puts research on the verge of a very exciting future, and I can’t think of a better place to meet it than here and now,” concludes Ola Spjuth.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o