This multi-part series dives into the ambitious AI-driven biomedical research projects happening across HHMI labs, including efforts to transform biological imaging, supercharge brain mapping and revolutionize molecular structure prediction.
This multi-part series dives into the ambitious AI-driven biomedical research projects happening across HHMI labs, including efforts to transform biological imaging, supercharge brain mapping and revolutionize molecular structure prediction.
Taking Imaging to the Molecular Level
April 2, 2026
HHMI Investigators Eric Gouaux and Michael Rosen are combining AI with innovative techniques to improve the interpretation of cryo-ET images, enabling scientists to identify molecules that make up larger structures like tightly wound strands of DNA and sites where neurons communicate.
“If the AI can produce a generalizable approach to labeling multiple objects differently, and then rapidly identifying where they are and determining their structures, that will be transformative in a lot of different areas,” Rosen says.
Accelerating Development of New Sensors
JANuary 22, 2026
HHMI Janelia Research Campus Group Leaders Alison Tebo and Srinivas Turaga are creating new AI models to optimize the development of sensors used to track biological processes happening inside cells in real time – key tools used to understand how the body and brain work.
“It is a high-effort proposition to make a new biosensor, but it really shouldn’t be, and that is what the project started with: We should make this easier to do,” Tebo says. “It shouldn’t take you years to make a good biosensor; it should take months.”